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Old plants, new ideas: Who might buy a retired coal power unit?
Where utility giant PacifiCorp sees escalating costs and regulatory liability, Wyoming leaders see an opportunity — albeit temporary — to help ailing coal communities. The Legislature is tweaking...
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‘Re-regulation’: Examining Wyoming’s response to coal’s decline
Wyoming’s coal industry, which has paid much of the freight for state government and countless Wyoming families for decades, has fallen on hard times. (BH Imaging) From a high of 462 million tons in...
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Lawmakers advance ‘piecemeal’ electric grid deregulation bill
A legislative committee yesterday backed a bill that would allow the buyers of early retirement coal plants access to the grid, a deregulatory step that could affect electricity consumers statewide....
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No easy answers: Wyo wrestles with a tangle of fiscal worries
Earlier this month, at the annual Governor’s Business Forum organized by the Wyoming Business Alliance, I had the honor of moderating a panel focusing on many of the state’s thornier fiscal...
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Evanston meets its would-be economic savior, CoreCivic
EVANSTON— Wyoming’s first private jail could resemble a warehouse or big box store, according to drawings corporate giant CoreCivic presented at a charged public meeting in Uinta County last week....
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Nichols: Any investigation was unfair, but keep it hidden either way
Former University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols does not want records related to her demotion released to the public, even as her attorney argues that the board of trustees could have violated...
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‘All on the same team’: Lawmakers eye AG help on bankruptcies
Lawmakers on the Select Coal/Mineral Bankruptcy committee have advanced a bill to give the Wyoming Attorney General’s office the authority to represent counties in pursuit of state taxes during energy...
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Bankruptcy fixes take shape, meet skeptics
A legislative committee formed in response to energy industry bankruptcies has identified weakness in state worker-protection and tax laws and is drafting corrective bills in response. The Select...
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Report: Wyo dead last for bicycle, pedestrian safety
When bicyclist Geoff O’Gara came to his senses in the Lander emergency room, he couldn’t recall the incident that sent him to the pavement. The experienced cyclist had been riding the main street of...
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A tapestry of transition: Wyoming’s 2019 in 15 stories
If the story of Wyoming in 2019 were a tapestry, transitions, economic uncertainties and the communities’ myriad responses to adversity would be the primary fibers from which it was woven. Chief among...
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Is PRB coal headed for gradual decline or sheer cliff?
GILLETTE— Despite the continuing downturn in U.S. coal and a bruising series of bankruptcies, there’ve been no recent permanent mine closures in the Powder River Basin. It’s a surprising outcome for...
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‘Cops investigating cops’: Tension builds over officer-involved shootings
Tensions have run high in recent years over officer-involved shootings around Wyoming. Fatal shootings by police officers and sheriffs deputies in Rawlins, Laramie, Casper and Riverton have sparked...
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UW trustees preserve lawsuit appeal option as clock ticks
The University of Wyoming’s board of trustees voted Friday to preserve the right to appeal a judge’s ruling that the school must turn over records related to the end of former-president Laurie...
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ACLU: State elected officials’ disregard of ICE jail is unlawful
By refusing to regulate a private immigration jail planned outside Evanston, Wyoming’s five statewide elected officials leave the state vulnerable to litigation and immigrants to poor treatment, the...
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Panel abandons griz depredation comp model, awards ranch $339K
An arbitration panel ruled Jan. 27 that Wyoming Game and Fish Department should pay a Hot Springs County rancher $339,927 for stock killed by grizzly bears and mountain lions, almost four times the...
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Energy school had ‘informal’ budget-pitch meeting with JAC
While drafting the state’s budget, a majority of the Joint Appropriations Committee traveled to the University of Wyoming for an unscheduled and apparently unannounced Saturday meeting with leaders of...
View ArticleLegislators, execs reveal financial interests, state contracts
Lawmakers and the state’s executives have filed annual financial disclosure forms in advance of the forthcoming legislative session, including in some cases a newly required list of contracts they...
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Legislature convenes under a new roof and a gathering ‘storm’
CHEYENNE— The 65th Wyoming Legislature convened yesterday with much talk about a coming fiscal “storm” but little anticipation that lawmakers will batten down the hatches in the next month. Lawmakers...
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Backing Gordon, Legislature looks to bet big on fossil fuels
During Gov. Mark Gordon’s state-of-the-state address Monday, lawmakers’ greeted Gordon’s strident pledges to defend Wyoming’s fossil fuel industry with raucous applause and a clear signal that the...
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Bill could put $1 billion in carbon capture onto electric bills
UPDATE: On Thursday evening, the House voted to introduce the bill with 50 aye votes. —Ed. Newly introduced legislation backed by Gov. Mark Gordon would force utilities to implement carbon capture,...
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