Wyoming

Wyoming Has Been Slow to Transition From Fossil Fuels, but Is Moving Fast Toward New Nuclear Technologies – Inside Climate News

Published

8 months ago

April 30, 2025

Wyoming Has Been Slow to Transition From Fossil Fuels, but Is Moving Fast Toward New Nuclear Technologies – Inside Climate News

Wyoming has the largest uranium ore reserves in the U.S., and for decades, uranium mining was one of the key drivers of the state’s economy. In the late 1970s, the state’s mining industry produced 12 million pounds annually of the element needed to fuel nuclear power plants, and was a major source of employment.

By the late 20th century, the U.S. uranium industry declined due to decreasing demand for nuclear power, falling market prices and competition from cheaper foreign sources. Uranium employment has typically tracked price trends, doubling from around 200 jobs in 2002, when the average price was $10.36 per pound, to more than 400 jobs in 2011 when prices peaked at $55.64. As prices fell in 2020, employment dropped below 200, but by 2024 had bounced back to 235.

But the nuclear industry is looking at a potentially more significant resurgence, and Wyoming is eyeing the possibilities.

As the urgency to transition to green energy grows, atomic power is being touted as one of the lowest-carbon electricity sources and experts argue that nuclear energy is poised for a revival, despite fears about accidents with radioactive materials, their potential contributions to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the long-term storage challenges for waste that will remain dangerously radioactive for centuries.

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The latest generation of reactors—designed with cutting-edge technologies, materials and safety systems—offer a glimpse of nuclear power’s potentially promising future.

But, the first step toward that future is a more reliable supply of fuel.

The U.S. banned the import of Russian uranium in August 2024 in response to its invasion of Ukraine. In retaliation, Russia imposed a slap ban against the U.S. on enriched uranium imports in November. The U.S. uranium industry and government leaders have seized on the opportunity the import ban presents to boost domestic production to support the continued growth of nuclear energy.

But increased U.S. government interest in new nuclear technologies has also contributed to that expansion.

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which became law in July 2024, aims to promote the demonstration and commercialization of next-generation nuclear technologies in the U.S. The legislation marks a significant shift, enabling the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to update outdated regulations, particularly for advanced reactors. The federal government wants to partner with private companies to share costs, address nuclear waste management and position nuclear power as a leading clean energy source.

Wyoming is among several states looking to capitalize on that momentum.

The state has little experience with nuclear power, aside from a 1.25-megawatt nuclear plant built by the U.S. Air Force in Sundance in 1962 that closed after six years. But Wyoming made national headlines in June 2024 when TerraPower, an advanced nuclear energy company funded by Bill Gates, began construction in Kemmerer, a historic coal town in southwest Wyoming. The nation’s first sodium-cooled advanced nuclear reactor, which the company claims will be smaller in size, more cost-effective and safer than traditional reactors, would be built on the site of a retired coal-fired electricity plant. TerraPower plans to retain 109 of the coal plant’s workers and has already taken over its transmission lines and water rights.

“We really feel like this could be an example of how sources like nuclear can come in and backfill some of those generation needs as more coal comes offline,” said Jeff Navin, TerraPower’s director of external affairs.

The TerraPower project, combined with government incentives, Wyoming’s rich uranium reserves and its commitment to an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy, positions the Cowboy State as a potential leader in next-generation nuclear energy.

The Road to a Nuclear Resurgence Is Paved with Coal

TerraPower applied for a nuclear reactor construction permit with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in April 2024, and the approval process will take around 24 months. In the meantime, it is building the non-nuclear infrastructure the project requires, including a research facility, training center and energy storage.

“A conventional nuclear plant actually looks a lot like a coal plant,” Navin said. “It’s really just kind of a fancy way to make steam.”

As opposed to a plant that burns fossil fuels to boil water into the steam that spins the turbines that generate electricity, a nuclear plant splits uranium atoms in a process called fission to heat the water.

Traditional nuclear plants also use water as a coolant for the fuel rods to prevent a runaway chain reaction that could lead to a meltdown. But TerraPower’s 345 MW reactor, about one-third the size of traditional gigawatt reactors, will use sodium as a coolant instead of water. Liquid sodium has a higher boiling point than water, making it more effective for heat absorption and reducing the need for complex safety systems. This simplified design, according to Navin, also avoids the type of vulnerable backup systems that failed during Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster. There, a massive earthquake and tsunami disabled the plant’s diesel generators, which were crucial for cooling the reactors, ultimately leading to core meltdowns and the release of radioactive materials.

In 2030, TerraPower is slated to begin supplying electricity directly to the grid, which is their primary focus. But Wyoming is also exploring off-grid applications, aiming to meet the high energy demands of industries that require ample, reliable, clean energy, but don’t get it from the system that distributes energy to other users across the region.

“In the U.S. today, nuclear energy primarily contributes to bulk grid generation—but the grid accounts for only 40 percent of our total energy consumption. Nuclear isn’t touching the remaining energy that we use,” said Steve Aumierer, senior advisor for nuclear energy strategic programs at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). “A world of 8 billion people needs to be able to plug this zero-emission energy generator into far more than just grid-scale processes.”

Aumierer said that both China and Russia are advancing innovative nuclear applications. China, he explained, diverts steam directly from large reactors to power chemical facilities, while Russia uses small nuclear reactors to support microgrid operations in Arctic regions. He added that these countries have yet to commercialize microreactors for industrial use—a gap the U.S. could capitalize on.

“Our country has an opportunity to lead in bringing microreactors to power mining operations, remote sites and incremental industrial plants,” Aumierer said. “It’s a push by Wyoming to usher advanced nuclear energy into this whole other portion of our energy demand that it’s not touching right now.”

As coal-fired power plants retire, many companies that once relied on them are seeking alternative energy sources. Natural gas has long been the next option, but with increasing pressure to achieve carbon-free operations, industries are looking for greener solutions.

A view of the Tata Ash Chemicals facility in southwest Wyoming. Credit: Najifa Farhat/Inside Climate News

Wyoming’s Innovative Entrepreneurs (WIE), a newly formed coalition of state manufacturers, is aiming to seize new business opportunities in nuclear energy. Members of the coalition have partnered with the Idaho National Laboratory for research and development support and BWX Technologies (BWXT), a leading producer of nuclear reactors and a key player in both commercial and government nuclear sectors. The coalition identified microreactors—compact reactors generating between 20 and 300 megawatts of power—as a promising solution for Wyoming, particularly for remote, off-grid and industrial applications. Mike Wandler, president of Gillette-based L&H Industrial and a member of WIE, saw this as an opportunity.

“Microreactors are particularly appealing because they offer a chance to build a new, diverse supply chain from the ground up—something that hasn’t been done before,” Wandler said of the need to develop everything from uranium fuel supplies to reactor construction projects and a customer base. “This presents a unique economic opportunity.”

But while he identified a need for microreactors in Wyoming’s industries producing steel and the minerals trona and bentonite, he noticed an issue.

“I went with a BWXT representative, and we found that the businesses were open to the idea of a nuclear reactor but nobody wanted to own or operate the reactor,” Wandler said. “It was an opportunity no one was taking.”

So in 2022, Wandler started up Evercore Energy, an “integrator” that would own, operate and license microreactors to provide energy for industrial clients. “Someone needs to bring together all the parties required for community engagement, socioeconomic analysis, site development and connecting the reactor to the heat and power systems at industrial facilities,” said Marcio Perez, CEO of Evercore Energy. “That’s where we come in as the integrator.”

Evercore positions itself as agnostic about how the electricity it provides is generated, presenting clients with a range of options and evaluating each for costs and environmental impacts. “I think nuclear microreactors will end up being the best choice for most, but maybe not all customers,” said Wandler.

Perez highlighted nuclear energy’s reliability and efficiency, noting that microreactors require minimal refueling, produce low emissions and are cost-effective compared to storing renewable energy or capturing the carbon produced by burning natural gas. “When you compare different options, nuclear is currently the most affordable, reliable and resilient choice,” Perez emphasized.

As a pioneer in this emerging field, Evercore is currently focused on community outreach, market development and raising awareness. Their efforts have already resulted in their first contract: a partnership with BWXT and Tata Ash Chemicals, a trona production plant in southwest Wyoming. BWXT will construct eight microreactors for Evercore that will be deployed at Tata Ash’s facility to replace coal-powered operations.

Baking Soda Operation Hopes to Move Fast on Nuclear Power

Green River, a small town in southwest Wyoming, is known as the trona capital of the world. Trona, a naturally occurring, white, crystalline mineral composed of sodium carbonate, is mined here and processed into soda ash, more commonly known as baking soda. Tata Ash Chemicals, one of Wyoming’s leading trona producers, mines trona ore, which is then crushed, mixed with water, and heated with steam to extract the soda ash. The plant relies on Rocky Mountain Power for electricity to power its operations and also uses its own coal and natural gas boilers to generate steam used in the soda ash refining process.

Trucks loaded with coal arrive and unload their cargo in an open area next to two three-story buildings, one that houses the coal-fired boilers to generate steam.

“The entire structure will be dismantled once we fully transition to nuclear,” said Jon Conrad, Tata’s director of governmental affairs and a representative in the Wyoming legislature, as he drove around the refining plant above a 55-square-mile underground trona mine.

Coal travels up a staircase to a boiler, fueling the steam production process at the Tata Ash Chemicals facility in Green River, Wyo. Credit: Najifa Farhat/Inside Climate News

A pile of soda ash obtained through the extraction and refinement of trona ore. Credit: Najifa Farhat/Inside Climate News

As Tata looked at eventually phasing out coal, it considered natural gas and other renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but nuclear emerged as the most feasible solution to consistently generate steam with minimal carbon emissions.

“Unlike a power plant, we’re an industrial operation,” Conrad said. “Ninety percent of our need is steam, with only ten percent in electrical power. There’s no way solar or wind alone could produce the volume of steam we need to run efficiently.”

The company has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, driven in part by the impending 2026 retirement of the mine in Kemmerer that supplies its coal. This broader trend of coal mine closures and coal-fired plants transitioning to alternative energy sources, such as natural gas, accelerated Tata’s search for a sustainable energy solution.

“We see small modular reactors as a way to meet both our sustainability targets and our steam needs,” Conrad said. “After the initial investment, the cost should stabilize, making nuclear a beneficial long-term solution.”

The microreactors will be set up off site, with the exact location yet to be determined. BWXT is in the process of designing and evaluating the reactors, with a production plan anticipated soon.

“We want to be the fast movers and lead the way by creating examples,” Conrad said.

Emergence of New Industries

Wyoming isn’t just aiming to bring nuclear facilities into the state; it’s looking to establish an entire supply chain around the technology to boost the local economy.

The chain starts with uranium, the primary raw material for nuclear energy, which Wyoming has in abundance. In 2024 alone, the U.S. produced around 180,000 pounds of uranium, with Wyoming’s four uranium mines responsible for approximately 63 percent of that output.

Before the ban on the import of Russian uranium, the U.S. uranium industry endured decades of decline, beginning in the 1980s when cheaper imports of the element—primarily from Russia and Kazakhstan—undercut local production. Russian supply was especially influential, mainly due to an enriched-uranium-buying deal between Russia and the United States designed to promote Russia’s peaceful nuclear program after the Soviet Union’s collapse. That deal enabled Russia to corner half the global market.

By the 2000s, competition from foreign sources and cheap domestic natural gas and renewable energy left U.S. uranium production dwindling. By 2020, domestic production met just 5 percent of U.S. uranium needs, with Russia providing about 20 percent of the enriched uranium for American reactors.

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But the U.S. ban on Russian uranium imports after its invasion of Ukraine exposed the country’s dependence on foreign supplies. The ban, along with initiatives like the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, a $6 billion initiative that provides financial support to nuclear reactors that are at risk of closing for economic reasons, and the incentives for nuclear power in the Inflation Reduction Act, have sparked a push to revitalize domestic uranium mining and production.

Instability abroad has prompted U.S. utilities to diversify their uranium supply chains, aligning with a federal goal to increase domestic production. A series of executive orders issued since the beginning of the year reflect this push, though the specific impacts on various forms of uranium are still unfolding. For example, an executive order issued April 2 imposes reciprocal import tariffs on most countries of the world. While Canada was exempted from this specific tariff, it faces a separate 10% tariff on energy products—including enriched uranium—set to take effect April 9.

Ur-Energy, which operates Wyoming’s largest uranium mine at Lost Creek in Sweetwater, reported that market conditions were challenging between 2018 and 2020, with prices plummeting to $20 per pound—half of what the company needed to break even. However, recent revitalization efforts in the nuclear industry have led to a positive shift in the market.

“While not helping us directly, a few legislative efforts have bolstered nuclear power plants across the nation,” said Ryan Schierman, vice president of regulatory affairs at Ur-Energy. “And many of those power plants that were going to be decommissioned have come out of decommissioning and gone back into operations.”

The mining of uranium is only the beginning of the nuclear fuel cycle. After Ur-Energy digs up the ore, it processes and concentrates it into “yellowcake,” a product that must undergo further refining and enrichment at other facilities to become usable in nuclear reactors. Wyoming has abundant uranium resources but lacks the infrastructure to produce uranium enriched enough to fuel nuclear reactors. Ur-Energy currently sends yellowcake to the nation’s only uranium conversion facility, located in Metropolis, Illinois, which converts yellowcake into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a gas that is then sent to enrichment facilities.

“The value chain actually lies in the concentration, enrichment and fuel fabrication process of uranium,” Schierman said.

While Wyoming stakeholders are considering the potential for local enrichment facilities, this remains a distant goal. Such plants require significant resources and personnel that Wyoming currently lacks, Sean Schaub, Nuclear Industry Coordinator of BWXT, pointed out.

“Wyoming’s uranium reserve is very useful from the standpoint that the state is familiar with what the fuel supply chain looks like,” he said, “but the reality is far from ready to host an enrichment plant.”

One of BWXT’s prime enrichment facilities, in Lynchburg, Virginia, employs around 2,000 people, a workforce that Wyoming could struggle to match, Schaub said.

To provide the components for the construction of a small modular reactor, Wandler’s L&H Industrial has partnered with BWXT to supply parts that will be deployed at Tata Ash.

An employee at L&H Industrial in Gillette shows tools that are used in the company’s manufacturing. Credit: Najifa Farhat/Inside Climate News

L&H, which specializes in industrial machinery, operates a 10-acre facility in Gillette that produces heavy equipment for surface mining, including large shovels, draglines, mineral processing tools, crushers and refurbished wind turbines. In addition to mining, L&H also supplies equipment to space agencies and companies, including NASA, SpaceX and Blue Origin. Recently, the company designed, manufactured and installed the undercarriage for NASA’s crawler transporter, which is responsible for moving space shuttles to the launch site.

With more than 60 years in heavy machinery, L&H is shifting its focus to developing components for small modular nuclear reactors at its facility in Gillette. The facility already houses a workshop that produces small-scale equipment, including bolts, cutting tools and other miniaturized machinery. However, the company is constructing a dedicated facility exclusively for manufacturing small-scale nuclear components.

“We’ve just quoted some graphite and steel parts for microreactors, and we’ll take on more orders as the project moves forward,” Wandler said. Emphasizing the broader economic potential for Wyoming, he’s working to involve other entrepreneurs through WIE.

“I want all of Wyoming to participate in the microreactor supply chain. I’ve been in this business long enough to know there’s room for everyone,” Wandler said, “Only abundance, no scarcity,”

Wyoming’s government is also heavily invested into this nuclear supply chain expansion goal.

In July 2024, the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) signed an agreement with BWXT to conduct an assessment study on the establishing of a Tristructural-Isotropic (TRISO) nuclear fuel fabrication facility in the state, which will primarily cater the need.

TRISO fuel is composed of a tiny uranium core encased in three protective layers of carbon and ceramic materials to contain the radiation. “It’s a fuel where you can put tiny uranium pebbles, about the size of a pen tip, and have several coatings around that fuel,” said Aumierer, at the Idaho National Laboratory.

These protective layers make TRISO particles exceptionally durable, able to withstand very high temperatures without melting or releasing radiation, so it’s highly desirable for microreactors and small modular reactors as well as larger advanced reactor designs, Aumierer said. The U.S. Department of Energy describes TRISO fuel as “the most robust nuclear fuel on Earth.”

People working to revive the nuclear industry think Wyoming has become ground zero for developing microreactors, but this notion also reflects society’s changing perception of nuclear energy in general.

“When I started out, the outlook for nuclear technology was very negative. Now, after 35 years into nuclear engineering, I’m witnessing this resurgence of interest,” Aumierer said.

About This Story

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Originally from Dhaka, Bangladesh, Najifa has been an environmental journalist for over three years. She graduated in Spring 2024 with a master’s in Environment and Natural Resource Journalism from the University of Montana. During this period, she freelanced for several local outlets and completed reporting internships with the Flathead Lake Biological Station and Montana Public Radio.

Najifa intends to explore issues such as energy transition, public lands, and environmental concerns in rural areas, inspired by her master’s project on a carbon sequestration project in Eastern Montana. Despite lacking formal education in environment or science, she is deeply motivated to pursue environmental journalism due to her homeland’s vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Najifa aspires to illuminate the stories of individuals worldwide grappling with the extensive effects of climate change, with a special emphasis on South Asia.

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Wyoming

A Wyoming Beer Snake Makes Travis Kelce Proud

Published

4 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

A Wyoming Beer Snake Makes Travis Kelce Proud

I know this is going to seem weird to read, but some people think Wyoming isn’t a real place. A fake fantasy world, they’ve only read about in books. Many who live in Wyoming are happy to hear that, because they won’t want to move here, but unfortunately, there’s a guy named Josh Allen who has confirmed that Wyoming is real.

READ MORE: Former Wyoming Coach Reconnects With Current NFL MVP

Josh has become a household name and a hero to young football fans everywhere. Even though the reigning NFL MVP wasn’t born and raised in Wyoming, he picked up on the Cowboy State’s traits. He is polite, kind, and does great things for others, including kids at the Oishei Children’s Hospital.

Josh’s impact on Wyoming is huge, and quite often, you’ll see social media posts from Wyomingites who are watching Josh play in Buffalo. Josh’s favorite wings restaurant ‘Double Dubs’ from Laramie, has won “People’s Choice” multiple times at the National Buffalo Chicken Festival in Buffalo.

READ MORE: Josh Allen’s Return To Wyoming For Jersey Retirement

Now, Josh’s influence on Wyoming has been highlighted on an episode of the New Heights Podcast hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce. Travis (Taylor Swift’s fiancé) mentioned that when Josh was in Laramie having his jersey retired, the fans in the stands created a giant beer snake, and he was proud of Wyoming.

Josh actually called on a fan to lead the student section to create that beer snake. Check out this TikTok video where the MVP asked a fan to get it done.

@trainwrecksports When QB1 requests a beer snake, you better start drinking! 🍻 🎥 via Bills on IG #BillsMafia ♬ original sound – Trainwreck Sports

During the clip on New Heights, interestingly enough, Jason Kelce, who seems to be quite the tailgate party guy, had never heard of a beer snake, but luckily, Travis explained it to him. And, just like that, Wyoming is on the map.

NFL Most Valuable Player Josh Allen Makes Return to Wyoming for Jersey Retirement

Josh Allen quarterbacked the Cowboys from 2015-17, leading Wyoming to a berth in the Mountain West Championship game his sophomore season. He declared for the NFL Draft in 2018 and was selected No. 7 overall by the Buffalo Bills.

Gallery Credit: DJ Johnson photos

Photos Of Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen

Here is a look at Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen
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Wyoming

Three deceased in Tuesday head-on collision in Crook County

Published

16 hours ago

December 14, 2025

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Three deceased in Tuesday head-on collision in Crook County

HULETT, Wyo. — Three travelers are dead after a head-on collision in Crook County on Dec. 9. According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, the crash occurred as the result of an unsuccessful attempt to overtake another vehicle on Highway 212 in the far northeast corner of the state.

According to the WHP report, published on the WYDOT website, a Subaru Forester was westbound on the route, heading towards the Montana-Wyoming border, at around 11:52 a.m.

Near milepost 16, the driver of the vehicle reportedly elected to overtake another passenger vehicle ahead of it on the two-lane highway.

While heading west in the eastbound lane, the Forester collided head-on with a Subaru Outback heading eastbound. Both cars came to sudden and uncontrolled stops in the southern road ditch. The other westbound car, which the Forester had originally attempted to pass, was left unharmed.

The three fatalities have been identified as 29-year-old Johnathan Vought, 73-year-old Eugene Cadwell and 52-year-old Rebecca Cadwell. Vought was reportedly a resident of New York, while both Cadwells resided in Montana.

The report did not indicate who among the deceased were in which car. They were all, however, wearing their seatbelts.

Speed and driver inattention were cited as the primary contributing factors in the incident. Weather conditions, including severe winds, overcast skies and wet roads, were also present during the time of the crash.

A map of the route on which the crash occurred, nestled in the far northeast corner of Wyoming and connecting Montana and South Dakota, can be seen below.

This story contains preliminary information as provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol via the Wyoming Department of Transportation Fatal Crash Summary map. The agency advises that information may be subject to change.

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Wyoming

Wyoming Ranchers Hoping Solar Can Lower Costs Say Utilities and the State Stand in Their Way – Inside Climate News

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Wyoming Ranchers Hoping Solar Can Lower Costs Say Utilities and the State Stand in Their Way – Inside Climate News

COKEVILLE, Wyo.—Tim Teichert and Jason Thornock want the sun to help them survive as ranchers in Cokeville, Wyoming. On an overcast May day, the two drove around the one-restaurant town, lamenting high electricity prices and restrictive Wyoming laws that they say have thrown an unnecessary burden onto their broad shoulders.

“I pay $90,000 in an electric bill,” Teichert said as he and Thornock made their way through fields of cattle, alfalfa and hay. “Jason’s about $150,000. If Jason had that $150,000 back, his kids could all come back to Cokeville, and work and live here, and you’d be able to raise kids here in Cokeville.”

In 2023, hoping to improve their margins, Teichert and Thornock each applied for Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants, which the Biden administration had infused with $2 billion to help support farmers interested in renewable energy.

While neither man was thrilled about the prospect of applying for federal funds—they prefer smaller government—they were interested in using solar to cover their own electrical demand. Teichert and Thornock say this could have saved them five or six figures annually, and made their businesses more attractive to their kids.

Across Wyoming and the U.S., Americans increasingly face skyrocketing electricity bills. In 2023, Rocky Mountain Power, Teichert and Thornock’s utility and the largest in Wyoming, asked regulators at the state’s Public Service Commission to approve a nearly 30 percent rate increase; the next year, they asked to raise rates by close to 15 percent. Though both requests were ultimately granted at lower rates, affordability concerns have sent almost every corner of Wyoming scrambling for ways to defray rising electricity costs.

A fraction of homeowners already do this in the Equality State by using credits from their utility for generating their own electricity using solar panels and sending excess amounts back to the grid, an arrangement known as net metering. But Wyoming law caps net-metering systems at 25 kilowatts, large enough to include just about any homeowner’s rooftop solar system, but too small to provide enough credits to offset all the electricity larger properties, like ranches, draw from the grid.

Earlier this year, a coalition of environmentalists, businesses and ranchers, including Teichert and Thornock, unsuccessfully supported a bill that would have raised Wyoming’s net-metering cap to 250 kilowatts.

Teichert and Thornock were initially counting on changes to the law as they eyed REAP funds. Teichert, a sturdy man with pale blue eyes and a trim Fu Manchu mustache, eventually applied and was awarded a $440,000 grant to build a ranch shed supporting around 250 kilowatts of solar panels. Today, with no ability to net meter, he fears he may never recoup his investment, which was over $500,000. Thornock, whose wide, boyish grin sits atop a hefty build, was approved for $868,000 in REAP funding to build a 648-kilowatt solar system. Concerned that his project’s viability rested on the judgment of state lawmakers, he returned the money.

The Department of Agriculture has since stopped funding renewable energy projects on farmland. REAP was a “huge opportunity we all missed in Wyoming,” Thornock said.

The two men are not the only Wyoming ranchers interested in using solar to give their businesses more stability.

“A lot of ranchers really look to renewables to help diversify their revenue stream, keep the ranch whole, and keep their family on the ranch, keep the land together,” said Chris Brown, executive director of Powering Up Wyoming, a renewable energy advocacy group. Most of the ranchers he’s worked with are interested in leasing their lands to solar developers, rather than purchasing their own systems, and his organization is neutral on net-metering.

Rocky Mountain Power says it is open to changes in the state’s net-metering laws, and the utility did not take a position on net metering during last spring’s legislative session.

“It’s not a level playing field; you’re dealing with a monopoly—a government-subsidized monopoly, government-protected monopoly.”
— Jason Thornock

“We have worked diligently in recent decades with customers, municipalities, state legislatures, in order to facilitate particular regulatory and pricing changes to allow customers to meet their energy goals,” said David Eskelsen, a spokesperson for PacifiCorp, Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company and a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

If rate hikes keep coming and margins don’t improve, Teichert, who runs his ranch with his brother, fears he and Thornock will eventually have to sell their lands, which crisscross much of Cokeville. They find other utilities’ arguments against net-metering expansion dubious, and fume at the business model and regulatory environment that allows utilities to earn enormous profits but restricts their customers from making their own energy use more affordable. The two ranchers find it particularly ironic that Rocky Mountain Power could build power lines across their property to carry renewable energy to California, Oregon and Washington, while it is illegal for them to install enough solar panels to cover their own electrical bills.

“It’s not a level playing field; you’re dealing with a monopoly—a government-subsidized monopoly, government-protected monopoly,” Thornock said on his ride to see Teichert’s solar array. “It’s got all the power in the world. And, like Tim says, they want to sell renewable energy to California, [Washington] and Oregon. They won’t let us do it because they want the control.”

Reaping Few Rewards

Teichert pulled his truck through a gate and into a field of alfalfa and hay. Just beyond was a shed with 18 red steel legs that looked like an enormous centipede straddling bales of hay and some farming equipment. On top of the shed sat Teichert’s $1.1 million solar system, which was designed to cover the electrical costs of running all his irrigation system’s pivots and pumps.

If Teichert could net meter, he says he would be more competitive with ranchers just a few miles away in Idaho and Utah, where net-metering laws are much less restrictive than in Wyoming.

In Idaho, ranchers can install up to 100 kilowatts of solar, and that number jumps to 2 megawatts for ranchers in Utah, 80 times the limit in Wyoming.

Tim Teichert installed around 250 kilowatts of solar using REAP funding, hoping Wyoming would change its net-metering laws.

Rocky Mountain Power charges irrigators different base electricity rates in each state, but regardless of the price of the power, any savings are helpful to big users like agricultural operations.

“Quite a few of the farmers [in Idaho and Utah] do it,” said Teichert, of net-metered solar.

In 2023, while Teichert was designing his system, Thornock was considering whether it was wise to spend his money on a solar array. He believed there was a good chance Wyoming wouldn’t change its law to increase the cap on net metering. Since his system would be more than 25 times the size that’s allowed to net meter, Thornock anticipated it would be extremely difficult for it to pay for itself if he wasn’t credited for sending excess electricity to the grid. He backed out of his REAP grant, and advised Teichert to do the same.

But Teichert forged ahead and installed his panels, believing it would be no big deal to convince Wyoming lawmakers to adjust the state’s net-metering law—especially given the more advantageous arrangement ranchers in Idaho and Utah enjoy with the same utility. “I thought I’d be ahead of everybody,” he said.

Once the bill to raise Wyoming’s net-metering cap failed, Teichert pivoted. He began exploring a power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power, in which the utility would buy electricity from him like he was a power plant. He said he had been told by the company installing his panels that a power purchase agreement could net him a good deal.

But when he saw how much the utility would pay him, he laughed. The utility would give him less than 1 cent per kilowatt hour in winter periods of low demand, and about 4 cents in peak summer demand hours. He would get much more of a financial benefit from the electricity he sent to the grid if he was instead compensated through net metering, which Wyoming law typically requires be credited at Rocky Mountain Power’s retail rate of electricity. The utility charges him around 14 cents per kilowatt hour, he said.

Setting up to sell his excess electricity to the grid through a power purchase agreement could leave Teichert even deeper in the hole, he added, as the utility informed him it would need $43,000 just to look at connecting his system to its grid.

Teichert looks over his power purchase agreement with Rocky Mountain Power. He is forgoing the agreement because he doesn’t believe it will ever let him recoup the costs of his system.

Originally, Teichert expected to pay off his solar shed in 10 years, but with the additional costs and the rates the utility offered, “I don’t know that I’ll ever come out on the deal,” he said.

And now, the federal support that incentivized him to pursue solar has been eliminated; in August the Department of Agriculture announced it would no longer fund solar or wind projects through REAP.

Teichert eventually decided to purchase a battery system to back up his panels. He does not plan on selling any of his electricity to Rocky Mountain Power.

“I should have listened to Jason,” he said.

Thornock feels he dodged a bullet.

Driving away from the solar shed, Teichert and Thornock said their history with Rocky Mountain Power contradicts other utilities’ arguments against net-metering.

Lines in the Valley

The biggest of the power lines crisscrossing the valley where Teichert and Thornock ranch belong to PacifiCorp, whose planned Gateway West project to deliver renewable energy to customers in California, Oregon and Washington would add even more lines. Some of those new lines could cross Teichert and Thornock’s properties, the men say.

They’ve got more experience with power lines than most utility customers, as they actually built some of the smaller lines coming off Rocky Mountain Power’s system.

Both men say the utility sent inflated estimates of the cost to install new lines to bring additional power to their growing ranching operations, leading them to seek help elsewhere.

In 2020, Teichert said he contracted a company to put in a power line for about $600,000 after the utility told him he would need to pay over $1 million for the same job, he said. Thornock has repeatedly testified to state lawmakers that Rocky Mountain Power nearly bankrupted him when he first began ranching in the late 2000s after going back and forth with him about whether they would deliver power on lines he had installed. Thornock wound up in court and lost, then had to cover the utility’s attorney fees.

The whole saga “was that close to breaking me,” he said, as Teichert drove by the poles he had installed.

Jason Thornock wishes he could use solar to offset an annual $150,000 electrical bill.

Utilities warn that net-metering systems can allow those with rooftop solar to avoid paying fixed expenses for the grid they feed into, like system maintenance and construction costs, which, according to reporting by the New York Times, account for a growing share of utilities’ spending. “That in effect sets up a subsidy flowing from customers who don’t use net-metering systems to those who do,” said Eskelsen, PacifiCorp’s spokesperson. Any price issues rooftop solar customers cause are confined within their “rate class” of customers who use a similar amount of electricity, he added.

Determining how—or whether—to alter the rates for net-metering customers to make sure they’re paying their fair share for the infrastructure that takes their excess energy has been a sticking point between utilities and Wyoming’s net-metering supporters. Rooftop solar supporters say that subsidization likely occurs all over the grid regardless of whether a homeowner or business is net metering, and claim that avoiding transmission costs saves all ratepayers money.

Experts generally say that rooftop solar’s dependence on infrastructure that it isn’t paying for won’t create billing issues until 10 to 20 percent of a utility’s customer base is in the program. Less than two percent of all Wyoming homes have rooftop solar panels, according to estimates from the Solar Energy Industry Association.

Given all the work he’s paid for, Teichert finds utilities’ arguments about cost sharing disingenuous. “When they sit there and say, ‘Well, we’re not paying our share,’ we’ve more than paid our share,” Teichert said. “That bugs me that they lie like that.”

Thornock said he would be happy to pay for any issues a net-metering solar system may cause—provided the new rate is fair, and preferably not suggested by a utility.

“We’re not asking for a handout. I don’t want Rocky Mountain Power subsidizing me,” he said. “I just want to be able to compete. I just want to be able to make a living.”

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When told of Teichert and Thornock’s experience building their own power lines, Eskelsen was surprised, but said it was possible in such a rural area. “That’s not something that we typically allow,” he said.

But what really bothers Teichert and Thornock is the utility business model. In Wyoming, as determined by the Public Service Commission in the company’s latest rate case hearing, Rocky Mountain Power is entitled to a 9.5 percent return on equity, around the national average, according to S&P estimates. In other words, if Rocky Mountain Power uses shareholder funds to build long-term assets, like power plants, it can recover up to an additional 9.5 percent of the total value of those assets from its customers and deliver that back to shareholders as profit.

This incentivizes Rocky Mountain Power to “explode [their] costs,” Thornock said. “Ten percent of 10 million is a lot more than [10] percent of a million,” he continued. “Even I can do that math.”

At least one former utility executive believes that the nationwide average of around 10 percent return on equity for utilities is too lucrative, and should be closer to 6 percent to more appropriately reflect the benefits and risks of investing in a utility.

“We’re not asking for a handout. I don’t want Rocky Mountain Power subsidizing me. I just want to be able to compete. I just want to be able to make a living.”
— Jason Thornock

A utility’s return on equity is misunderstood, Eskelsen said, and functions more like a ceiling than a guarantee. Because utilities must “open our books to utility commissions,” who judge whether the company has spent prudently, they have a “powerful incentive” not to exaggerate their costs, he said. A commission disallowing a utility’s costs cuts profits for utility shareholders, he added.

Back in Teichert’s truck, he and Thornock laughed at the fantasy of getting a guaranteed profit on cattle and crop purchases. “I think that’s why there’s such a huge blowback from these utilities on net metering,” Thornock said. “They can see that if we let these guys produce their own power, they’re going to see right through all the nonsense.”

“And I don’t blame them,” he continued. “If I was in their shoes, man, that’s crazy money—and they’re protected by the government to do it.”

Staying Alive

For their way of life to remain sustainable for themselves, their kids and grandkids, Wyoming needs to either increase the net-meeting cap or change how it regulates utilities “so we can have something fair,” Teichert said.

But he and Thornock see many of Wyoming’s representatives as too deferential to utilities, and neither of them has much faith that the state will overhaul the system.

While it is not unusual for politicians in Wyoming to accept donations from sectors they regulate, at least one member of the Wyoming Senate has close professional ties to a utility. Dan Dockstader, a state Senator representing Teton and Lincoln counties, which includes Cokeville, is a board member of Lower Valley Energy, an electric cooperative.

As last year’s net-metering bill came up for a vote in the Senate, Dockstader amended the bill to exempt electric utility co-ops from Public Service Commission oversight when it came to setting net-metering customers’ rates. The commission now has “limited jurisdiction over eighteen retail rural electric cooperatives,” according to its website.

Rocky Mountain Power transmission lines run across both Teichert’s and Thornock’s property, and there may soon be more here if the utility decides to run its Gateway West transmission project through this corridor.

The amendment didn’t sit well with Thornock. “[Dockstader is] representing Lower Valley Energy, he’s not representing the people who are using the power,” he said.

“I was representing the interests of the Wyoming Rural Electric Association (WREA) with 14 electric power distribution cooperates and another three generation and transmission cooperates,” Dockstader said, in an email. “All efforts to pass legislation should include a balanced approach with the rural cooperatives.”

Those who have been trying to find a way to raise Wyoming’s net-metering cap agree that utilities hold a lot of sway with lawmakers in Cheyenne.

“We watched numerous amendments chip away at the original intent of the bill, to the point where we realized if it passed it would actually be a step back for rooftop solar deployment in Wyoming,” said John Burrows, climate and energy director for the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

“Utilities have established, professional lobbyists,” he continued. “They lobbied quite aggressively on this issue and I suspect that that had an impact on where the bill went.”

Moving forward, net-metering supporters are trying to resolve their differences with utility companies through a third-party facilitator before introducing another bill, according to Burrows.

“Net metering still needs to happen,” Thornock said. Other energy sources, like small modular nuclear reactors that can generate power without emissions, but rely on unproven technologies, intrigue him—but he worries they’ll also be hobbled by the kinds of problems plaguing net metering. “If we don’t get this net-meeting stuff figured out we’re not going to be able to take advantage of the technology that’s coming,” he said.

Clouds shrouded the high sun over Cokeville when Teichert dropped Thornock off at his house around noon. Cruising around his hometown, where he once taught middle school English, Teichert pointed out about half a dozen homes sporting rooftop solar panels. As the cost of living goes up, his 91-year-old mother’s house may be next.

“At some point, my mom’s gonna have to choose between, do you turn on the power or do you buy groceries?” he said.

Rising costs, including for electricity, pose a similar dilemma to his business. “If it gets to the point where you can’t afford to ranch, our only option is to start selling 35-acre parcels,” he said.

Eventually, Teichert navigated toward the mountains. He slowed to admire the clarity of a creek, pulled over to gush over the ski slopes just outside of town and spoke eloquently about Cokeville’s history as an energy hub. But on his way home, he saw ranchland that had been carved up and sold to developers, and his eyes winced with angst. He kept driving.

About This Story

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Jake Bolster

Reporter, Wyoming and the West

Jake Bolster reports on Wyoming and the West for Inside Climate News. Previously, he worked as a freelancer, covering climate change, energy, and the environment across the United States. He holds a Masters in Journalism from Columbia University.

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