Energy gleanings from Wyoming

In a perverse twist, the coal economy benefits from the heat waves

It was another down year for Wyoming and other coal-producing states in 2020, part of a long-term decline. Production in Wyoming plummeted 21%, and even worse in other coal-producing states of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Illinois, Kentucky, and Indiana, whose production declined between 27% and 37%.

For the United States altogether, reports the Casper Star-Tribune, the production was the lowest since 1965.

But production is up 15% this year as the economy comes back to life, and natural gas—a rival to coal—becomes more expensive.

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Then there are the heat waves. “We burn more coal when it’s very cold, and we burn more coal when it’s very hot,” said Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association. “And with the weather being like it is in the West right now, and in other places—good cold winters and good warm summers are good for the coal market,” he told the Star-Tribune.

Production has picked up 8% in Wyoming compared to last year and many of the 572 coal industry jobs lost last year are returning, he says.

Wyoming’s coal-mining epicenter becomes a taker, not a giver

WyoFile’s Dustin Bleizeffer, a native son of Gillette, the epicenter of the Powder River Basin, reports a pivotal divide in that area’s economic fortunes.

For the first time in decades, Campbell County will not send excess revenue to Wyoming’s primary school fund. Instead, it will be getting money from other counties, reflecting the declining revenues from the coal mines around Gillette, but also the depressed oil and natural gas production during 2020.

“Wyoming relies primarily on property taxes to fund the bulk—approximately 75%—of school operations,” Bleizeffer explains in his Wyofile report.

“About half of that comes from property taxes assessed on minerals at the county level, according to the Wyoming Department of Education. That means Campbell County, historically flush with coal, oil and natural gas production, has contributed more dollars to statewide school operations than any other county—to the tune of nearly $1 billion since 1984, according to Campbell County School District 1 officials. But the county took a major hit in 2020, with an assessed valuation dropping by 20%.”

Campbell County schools have lost 400 students in the last couple of years.

Three hydrogen projects identified as finalists for help from Wyoming

Three proposed hydrogen pilot projects have been chosen as finalists for $1.5 million in aid from the Wyoming Energy Authority.

Smallest of the potential grants, $20,000, would go to Denver-based Jonah Energy, which is an oil and gas developer in Wyoming’s Jonah Field, around Pinedale. In partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the company plans to invest $50,000 into a plan for using leftover renewable power to create hydrogen, then converting it into renewable natural gas. The Casper Star-Tribune explains that the process is called biomethanation.

“Many of our customers that buy natural gas from southwestern Wyoming are setting renewable gas goals,” said Howard Dieter, vice president of environment, health, and safety at Jonah Energy.

Williams, a Tulsa-based firm, is set to receive the bulk of the money, nearly $1 million for a hydrogen feasibility study in partnership with the University of Wyoming.

Black Hills Energy is also set to receive $450,000 It plans a hydrogen combustion demonstration project on the southeast edge of Cheyenne.

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