The Wyoming Mining Association’s Travis Deti said the study is problematic because it doesn’t factor in the costs of maintaining reliability on the grid. “The fact is, wind and solar just aren’t reliable,” he said.
People with residential rooftop solar installations and those who work in the industry gave the Senate Corporations Committee an earful on a bill that would free electric utilities from being obligated to buy their surplus electricity.
President Joe Biden has tapped the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to its lowest level since 1984. Now new federal legislation aims to limit draws to national emergencies, but Biden threatens veto.
As Germany has done in the past few months, the United Kingdom is bringing coal plants back online and offering money to citizens to cut down on their energy use because wind energy resources just aren’t providing enough power.
Wyoming lost out on 50 million tons of coal production last year because of limited rail capacity. Rail companies say a labor shortage prevented more shipments, but current and retired engineers say if the rail companies treated their people better, there would be no labor shortage.
Wyoming coal mines would have produced about 300 million tons of coal in 2022, but were ultimately about 50 million tons short of that because there weren’t enough trains to ship it out. This translates to $100 million in lost revenue to the state of Wyoming.
Wyoming lighting retailers say they have a few incandescent light bulbs in stock but the bulbs are nearly impossible to get any more. On August 1 it will become illegal for retailers to sell incandescent bulbs.
Sen. Cale Case has introduced a bill that would repeal net metering, which allows people who produce excess electricity from rooftop panels to sell it back to a utility. Case says it makes energy in the state more expensive and discriminates against the poor.
When a U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee investigation into oil companies’ alleged deceptions fizzled out, it was thought the effort was finished. It now appears Senate Democrats will pick up where their House counterparts left off.
The Wyoming Legislature had appropriated $1.2 million for Wyoming to sue other states that have regulations that harm Wyoming’s coal industry. A committee Monday approved a bill allowing the governor more broad authority to spend the money.
Independent power providers told Wyoming lawmakers Friday that if the state doesn’t uniformly do property tax assessments, expect less continuity and more appeals.
A commissioner with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission immediately walked back statements about a proposed ban on gas stoves, but that hasn’t stop criticism of the plan or the science it’s based on.
Using guns and bolt cutters, vandals have knocked out electricity for thousands of people, but only so much can be done to protect the nation’s electrical infrastructure.
Wyoming was an early critic of the anti-fossil fuels stance of “woke capitalism,” but now the official policy of the Wyoming Treasurer’s office is to put getting the best rate of return on state investments over politics.
A brother and sister rented a Tesla in Florida and it worked fine until they hit cold weather. Then they had to stop the car six times in one day to charge the vehicle. It took 17 hours to 452 miles.
Rep. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, is sponsoring a bill that will fund efforts to challenge the early retirement of coal plants.
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Wyoming truckers are concerned with a new California law which bans all diesel trucks made before 2010, effective Jan 1. This will apply to any Wyoming truck driving through California, and states, such as Colorado, which often follows California’s lead.
Wind farm developers provide estimates of the property taxes a project will generate over its lifetime. County assessors say these estimates turn out to be far higher than the actual assessed values, and they want to have the authority to do the assessments on the county level.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso is again calling for scrutiny of a company with strong ties to China receiving taxpayer money from the Biden administration’s Department of Energy as part of its green energy push.
U.S. coal groups are banding together to push back against further shutdowns of coal-fired power plants. They say the blackouts in Europe and severe energy problems in some parts of the U.S. prove that coal is essential.
Unfunded mandate? After Wyoming receives $24 million from the federal government for EV charging stations, they’ll only support them for 5 years. Then Wyoming is on its own and projections show they won’t be profitable for at least 20 years.
Some areas of Wyoming nearly faced blackouts during the Arctic storm last week, but the electrical cooperative turned to its fossil fuel and hydroelectric resources to keep the power on.
A Wyoming Tesla Owner says a viral video of a Virginia man who said the cold kept him from charging his EV is misleading. Dr. Jason Bloomberg said it’s another case of an EV owner not following the owner’s manual.
As the federal government accelerates green energy buildout, regulations also require more public oil and gas lease sales. The BLM is proposing a second quarterly lease sale for 2023 on 115 parcels in Wyoming.
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Solar flares are unpredictable, but can pose serious threats to the world’s satellites and electrical systems. It’s happened before, and even once threatened to spark nuclear war.
The Rocky Mountain Propane Assoc. said “corporate greed” is behind propane delivery problems in Wyoming, but Williams Co. says it’s still honoring propane contracts.
The American Council for Energy-Efficiency Economy released its annual ranking of states’ policy commitments to energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reductions. Wyoming was ranked highest in energy inefficiency, with a total of two points out of 50.
Propane shortages in Wyoming are causing distributors to have to drive much farther to get propane supplies, which threatens residents with possible shortages of the heating fuel — as well as higher heating costs.
Despite the price of Ford F-150 Lightning trucks increasing by $15,000 over one year, they’re sold out. Wyoming dealers say there’s been inquiries about the truck but no sales. The truck has a range of 240 miles and can be recharged in 8-10 hours.
TerraPower announced this week it would be delaying its advanced nuclear reactor demonstration project in Kemmerer due to the lack of fuel for the project. The only source for the fuel is a Russian company.
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Over the next 20 years, millions of batteries in electric cars are going to come to the end of their useful life. Each of then weighs about 1,000 pounds. What’s going to happen to this mountain of e-waste?
A diverse ecosystem of Wyoming industries, including petroleum distillates, wind tower parts, and cat litter come together at a rail hub south of Cheyenne to ship out across the country.
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Despite promises that a year-long congressional investigation into oil companies spreading “climate disinformation,” the report was released without any press conference and without any bombshell revelations.
A new report from the International Energy Agency predicts that wind and solar will increase as much in the next five years as they had in the past 20. There’s a few reasons to be skeptical of the forecast.
A 2019 study by AAA found that when temperatures drop to 20 degrees and the heat inside the car is on, driving range is decreased on electric vehicles by up to 41%.
The world of energy is buzzing with news that a laboratory managed to create a fusion reaction that produced more energy than it took to start the reaction. As exciting as the news is, there’s a long way to go before we have fusion power plants.
A lithium battery company received $200 million in grant funding from the Department of Energy as part of an effort to develop more domestic sources of green energy manufacturing. The company operates primarily in China.
Electric vehicle manufacturers are floating ideas to improve the range of EVs. Aaron Turpen, an automotive writer and supporter of electric vehicles, said he’s not too sure these will become major breakthroughs in the EV world because of the cost.
Public pressure likely played a role in Vanguard pulling out of the world’s largest climate-finance alliance, one industry observer told Cowboy State Daily. Asset managers are realizing that the “last thing most people want is their retirement fund pushing progressive politics down their throats,” he said.
Long haul truckers driving through Wyoming told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that Tesla electric trucks weren’t going to work for them because of driving range limits and charging times . “Don’t want it, don’t need it, no way,” one trucker said.
The Biden administration plans to hold a meeting with American oil executives to discuss ways to support Ukrainian energy needs after two years of aggressively trying to stop American oil production.
While the Biden administration remains committed to halting oil and gas production on federal lands, the U.S. Department of Interior announced this week it would accelerate solar deployment on public lands.
In light of the attacks on the electrical grid in North Carolina over the weekend that left tens of thousands without power, a Wyoming state senator said Wyoming is “unbelievably vulnerable to terrorism and vandalism” to its infrastructure.
The elimination of coal- and natural gas-fired electrical generation removed 18 gigawatts of power from the Western grid. Energy assessments of Wyoming’s electrical resources and those of its neighbors are showing increasing risk of blackouts should the West face extreme cold this winter.
Wyoming is home to the largest wind farm development in the country, as well as a number of others that are under construction. But the future is unknown as wind turbine manufacturers across the globe are reporting huge losses and layoffs.
A lot of energy is getting flushed down the toilet, and now new processes are being developed to repurpose the sewage into usable energy. In Gillette, methane from the city’s wastewater treatment plant is captured and used to fuel the facility’s boiler.
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A lithium mine in the U.S. owned primarily by a Chinese mineral company has upset many lawmakers including Green River State Rep. Scott Heiner. “Why would we continue to let them control the supply here in the U.S. and Wyoming?” he said.
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Col. Tucker Fagan (ret.), former commander of FE Warren AFB in Cheyenne, said he has concerns using portable turbines in military operations — instead of generators — as safety of personnel should be the top concern, not emissions.
The Department of the Interior on Monday announced proposed rules to limit flaring from oil and gas production on federal lands. The rules will further increase energy costs, which are now at historic highs.
Wyoming oil producer Diemer True says it’s absolute “madness” that President Biden eased sanctions against socialist Venezuela while continuing restrictions against U.S. oil production.
China has 1,109 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity and is rapidly building more. The U.S. has 196 gigawatts of coal capacity in its entire fleet and the Biden Administration is trying to get rid of all of it.
Biden campaigned on a promise that he was going to eliminate the oil industry, and since taking office he has taken more than 100 steps to make good on that promise.
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Wyoming utility companies are adding battery storage to the electricity grid to address the intermittency of wind and solar. But even the most advanced battery farms have limited capacity and are hugely expensive.
California first banned gas-powered cars. Now it’s targeting diesel-powered semitrucks. And the charging stations needed for the electric trucks that would replace diesel trucks will require about the same amount of power as a small town.
An energy advocacy group said the decision to allow California to set its own emissions standards — something that former President Trump revoked but Biden reinstated — is the reason for huge increases in new car prices and energy costs.
Meeting wind and solar energy mandates will require exponential increases in mining, and Wyoming has high-grade deposits of rare earth minerals that will meet the demand, according to the project manager.
The Energy Information Administration reports that if diesel prices get much higher, it could trigger serious economic consequences for the country. Wyoming trucking companies continue to haul, but it’s getting expensive.
President Joe Biden campaigned that he was “going to end oil” and, from his first day in office, went about trying to make good on that promise.
A recent study said the elimination of coal- and natural gas-fired electrical generation has removed 18 gigawatts of power from the Western grid and another 26 gigawatts will be gone by 2032. Add in the expected increase demand and blackouts will likely occur in the next decade.
Jusper Machogu, a Kenyan farmer, said he’s tired of the hypocrisy of wealthy Western countries lecturing Africa about fighting climate change. He says the only way for Africa to rise out of poverty is the same way Western nations did it — with fossil fuels.
Tom Kropatsch, supervisor for the Wyoming Oil and Gas Commission said there was a study on about 10 coal-bed orphan wells and the emissions those wells gave off was less than the emissions of a single cow.
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A judge in the Third District Court of Utah has dismissed a lawsuit by a group of children who claim the state of Utah is violating their rights by allowing fossil fuel production. A similar group tried that in Wyoming earlier and got the same result.
The Biden administration has leased fewer federal acres for oil and natural gas development than any president since World War II, but environmental groups are hoping to stop the practice entirely.
Because the state energy office hasn’t been able to fill a key position, federal funding for programs that benefit small business, local government, schools, and ag producers will be lost.
A Colorado company is teaming up with a German wind turbine manufacturer to create a hydrogen production hub near Douglas.
On Sept. 4, 1982, about 500 residents, including Sen. Malcolm Wallop and Gov Ed Herschler, gathered in Medicine Bow as state officials dedicated Wyoming’s first wind power turbines at an event dubbed “Wind Turbine Day.”
Every time drivers fill up at the pump in Wyoming, they could pay as much 20 cents per gallon for something called the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the EPA won’t allow exemptions that would reduce that cost.
PacifiCorp says that a study released by two environmental groups alleging groundwater contamination at two Wyoming coal plants is misleading and inaccurate.
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The Wyoming Petroleum Association blasted President Biden for his comments on Sunday to end federal drilling. The White House said his direct quotes were “twisted” and he wasn’t vowing to destroy America’s coal industry.
Chris Wright, CEO of Liberty Energy Inc., launched a campaign criticizing what he calls North Face’s hypocritical anti-oil stance. Wright continues to be a vocal champion of oil in an industry that often shrinks from defending its products.
Peabody Energy, which operates three Powder River Basin thermal coal mines, reported its Wyoming operations were in the black by $38 million as rail shortages eased and power plants built up stockpiles.
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As Wyoming’s coal industry declines, many promises have been made about providing support for displaced workers in the industry. After years of being passed over, small gains are being made to address their needs.
President Biden blames American oil companies and the Ukraine war for high energy costs but the American Energy Alliance outlined 125 actions that Biden has taken against the oil industry that they say is responsible for skyrocketing prices.
A 2021 energy report estimates that wind and solar projects will require 500% to 700% more minerals compared to building a natural gas power plant. And the world’s mining industry isn’t remotely close to an increase of that much.
Chris and Shayla Roberts are the first owners of a Tesla Roof in Wyoming. It often produces more power than the home uses, and the couple gets credit for surplus energy that goes back to the grid.
President Biden on Monday threatened to enact a windfall tax if oil companies don’t reduce the price at the pump.
Nationalizing the U.S. oil and gas industry used to be a fringe idea. Now, it’s being promoted by some more mainstream Democrats, urging the government to take it over — all in the name of “saving the planet.”
PacifiCorp and TerraPower are initiating a joint study to evaluate the feasibility of building five more Natrium reactors by 2035, in addition to a planned reactor in progress in Kemmerer.
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As Wyoming lawmakers consider “islands of deregulation” for power customers, an energy advisor said Thursday that deregulation was a common thread for states with the highest-priced electricity.
Arch Resources posted its third quarter results for fiscal year 2022 on Thursday, which shows its operations in the Powder River Basin did well, but company executives say the long-term outlook is bleak.
A Texas-based oil and gas company is seeking EPA approval to inject wastewater from fracking oil and gas wells into a deep aquifer near the town of Pavillion, arguing the aquifer is too deep to be used as a drinking water source.
The demand for coal has risen and Wyoming coal producers can significantly increase production but they can’t get the trains to carry it. “The market is there if Wyoming could just get it out on trains,” the governor’s office said.
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A California company is moving ahead with a 150-megawatt solar farm outside of Cheyenne. It is expected to create 182 temporary construction jobs.
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A PacifiCorp representative on Monday said coal-fired generation is now taking a back seat to wind and solar.
Sen. Barrasso blasted President Biden for releasing another 15 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He said, “The surest way to bring down energy prices is to unleash American energy production.”
A planned transmission line originating in Wyoming will bridge together the separate national grids in the United States, creating a more reliable and affordable grid while opening up new markets for electrical producers.
For those who heat with natural gas, this year will be brutal, according to the latest Winter Fuels Outlook report.
In response to a Cowboy State Daily story last week, Cheyenne’s Dr. Jason Bloomberg said the Nissan Leaf isn’t a good example of what electric vehicles can do. He said his Teslas have a far greater range and take a shorter time to charge. (He lives off-the-grid too).
With one exception, Wyoming wind and solar projects haven’t yet generated much local opposition, but that’s likely to change as those industries build out more and larger operations in the Cowboy State.
As “social credit scores” make it hard for oil, gas, coal and nuclear companies to get financing, some asset management firms are offering market-based ‘anti-woke’ financing solutions.
