A slew of energy- and climate-related bills are up for consideration before Wyoming lawmakers this year. They include an energy dominance fund for fossil fuels, a thumbs up for cloud seeding and a reconsideration of how the state incentivizes the coal industry and its emissions.
Wyoming Public Radio’s News Director Kamila Kudelska spoke with WPR’s energy and natural resources reporter Caitlin Tan.
Kamila Kudelska: What’s been the vibe around energy and climate bills at the Legislature this year?
Caitlin Tan: Compared to last year, it’s been less of a hot topic. But there are still a few high profile energy bills that are moving forward. Let’s start with the Energy Dominance Fund.
KK: Quite the name! It sounds like a call out to President Trump’s energy dominance agenda.
CT: Yeah, it’s replacing a fund the state previously had to help attract innovative energy projects, but it’s really re-focusing on fossil fuels. It’ll offer loans and grants to incentivize those kinds of projects to come here. The hope is for things like new coal plants, boosting old oil fields and reviving uranium mining.
The fund will be made up of $105 million in severance taxes collected from the mining and drilling industry and will sunset in two years. The catch is none of the money can go to wind or solar projects.
KK: Was the previous fund that this is replacing successful?
CT: It depends who you ask. It was called the Energy Matching Fund and it doled out $155 million to about 30 energy projects. About 90% went to fossil fuel and extraction projects, like carbon capture, advanced drilling, critical mineral exploration and hydrogen.
But it was controversial. Some lawmakers didn’t like that the governor had final say. They felt like it was a lot of executive power over millions of state dollars. And remember, the Legislature holds the power of the purse.
KK: So why didn’t they end it altogether? Why this shift toward another energy fund?
CT: There’s worry that Wyoming is going to miss out on big business. Lots of energy projects are looking for a home, and the argument is they’re not going to just come to Wyoming for the heck of it. Other states are giving these companies big money to come there, and those states want the jobs and revenues. So supporters of the Energy Dominance Fund say this will give Wyoming flexibility to compete.
KK: What other bills are you tracking?
CT: The carbon capture mandate repeal is back. The mandate is a 2020 law that basically required coal plant owners, so electricity companies like Rocky Mountain Power, to take a research pause before shutting down. Specifically, looking into carbon capture technology, which in theory reduces emissions when strapped onto coal plants.
In practice, the law allowed electricity companies to bill their customers for millions just to research it. And so far, they’ve yet to prove carbon capture is economical at scale.
So, lawmakers have tried before, unsuccessfully, to roll back this law that requires this research.
KK: Is there more momentum this time?
CT: Previously, there’s been mixed opinions on why to get rid of the law. Far right lawmakers have argued that they think we shouldn’t be removing CO2 emissions. Science doesn’t support this, but they say we actually need more in the atmosphere.
On the left, lawmakers feel like this is just prolonging the coal industry, when there are viable, cleaner alternatives like wind and solar.
But this year there’s more unilateral support. The argument seems much more simple: Let the market play out and let the cheapest source of energy win, and supporters are betting on it being coal, without carbon capture.
KK: Can you give us a quick rundown of other energy bills still alive?
CT: There’s a push to put Wyoming in the driver’s seat of managing energy production on federal lands. The hope is more say on what happens and more money funneling back to the state.
Rep. Bob Wharff (R-Evanston) says he’s backing the effort because:
Bob Wharff: If, in fact, the federal lands are ever transferred to the state, that we've demonstrated to the people that live here that we can responsibly manage the lands that are entrusted to this state to be managed for the people
CT: Now, this push is spelled out in two resolutions, which are just formal asks of Congress and not legally binding. While there’s broad support in the Legislature, many have acknowledged this will likely go nowhere.
KK: Alright. What else?
CT: Another bill has to do with electric vehicle chargers. Kamila, you have an EV. What’s the charging situation like for you driving across Wyoming?
KK: I can’t drive across certain parts of Wyoming since there are no chargers.
CT: Apparently that situation is getting worse. The state started a fuel tax on public EV chargers. Many are saying it doesn’t bring in a lot of revenue, but is an administrative burden, especially for the slower chargers hotels and libraries offer for free as an amenity. They don’t have a way to track how much electricity gets used and should be taxed, so a lot of them are just shutting down.
Here’s Rep. Ocean Andrew (R-Laramie) talking about a recent trip to Casper in his EV.
Ocean Andrew: I booked the hotel that I usually stay at that has the EV chargers, and there were signs on all of them that said they had been removed.
CT: This has also happened in Rock Springs.
In a moment of unity, Andrew, a Freedom Caucus member, and Rep. Mike Yin, a Democrat of Jackson, put together a bill that would lift the fuel tax requirement from the slower charges.
KK: What about high profile bills that have died?
CT: I was really gearing up to hear a lot about chemtrails and geoengineering. These are the focus of conspiracy theories that claim the government is injecting chemicals into the sky to control our health and environment. That’s been disproven. But believers are still suspicious. And they’ve been trying to get rid of Wyoming’s cloud seeding program.
KK: Right, this is where scientists inject a salt-like mixture into winter clouds so it’ll snow just a bit more.
CT: Yes. Two bills were trying to stop cloud seeding. Both failed. And even more, a bill saying cloud seeding can continue is still alive. But the state can’t pay for it.
KK: So some energy bills are alive, some are dead. Big picture, what are you thinking about?
CT: It feels like conspiracy theories have taken a backseat this session in the energy world. Wyoming is going all in on fossil fuels, that’s not really new. But this time without additional regulation for coal emissions, kind of matching the vibe on the federal level right now, too.
And a tale as old as time: Wyoming wants more say over resources, and less say from the feds.
