Wyoming
Wyoming draws interest in new nuclear and low-carbon fossil fuel investments – WyoFile
LARAMIE—Wyoming is on the cusp of a nationwide nuclear power resurgence with the backing of a presidential administration that also promises to overhaul federal regulations to ensure the state’s coal, oil and natural gas are positioned to meet booming electrical demand while lowering carbon emissions, Gov. Mark Gordon told an audience of energy enthusiasts.
In Wyoming, he said, “We talk about what’s practical, what’s good and what can we accomplish if we really put our minds to it. That has been, I think, the hallmark of what has driven so much of American energy [innovation] over the years.”
Gordon spoke to about 350 attendees of the Next Frontier Energy Summit, an annual event organized by the Wyoming Energy Authority, at the University of Wyoming on Tuesday. The two-day conference featured speakers representing utility giant PacifiCorp, nuclear energy manufacturer BWXT Advanced Technologies, and leaders in the oil and gas and uranium mining industries. The governor suggested that, after decades of visionary work by state leaders to create regulatory pathways and boost investor confidence to scrub carbon from fossil fuels, markets and national policies are finally beginning to align with Wyoming’s attitude to “find a way forward.”
In fact, Gordon said, he’s recently modified his long-touted mantra of an “all-of-the-above” energy and environmental strategy: “Now, we need to talk about the best of all-of-the-above.”
“We have opportunities to innovate,” he said, “to make mistakes, to correct from those mistakes and to really drive through to a future that is efficient, that is environmentally sound, that has a mix in the energy portfolio — everything from renewables in the appropriate place to fossil [fuels] done right to nuclear done right.”
Faith in Wyoming nuclear, natural gas and coal
As evidence of Wyoming leading on the next generation of energy, PacifiCorp CEO Cindy Crane noted the utility’s tentative agreement to take on TerraPower’s Natrium nuclear power plant under construction near Kemmerer. Not only will Natrium — among the first “advanced small modular reactors” in development in the nation — help the six-state utility secure reliable, low-carbon electricity, it fits within PacifiCorp’s penchant for proven technologies over more speculative endeavors and political favor.
“We don’t shift our strategy based on who’s in the White House,” Crane said. “We don’t manage our business on politics. We manage our business for our customers, first and foremost, and for our states and their energy policies, not the federal government’s policies.”
A big part of what makes advanced nuclear attractive to PacifiCorp, according to Crane, is the partnerships between the utility, TerraPower, the state, federal agencies and the University of Wyoming to build a domestic nuclear energy supply chain and workforce to back it up.
“We don’t shift our strategy based on who’s in the White House. We don’t manage our business on politics.”
Cindy Crane, PacifiCorp
“It is elevating education and job training for Wyoming, as well as a future U.S. workforce,” Crane said. “It is building a transition for our existing and experienced workforce, and it is positioning Wyoming to continue and grow its electrification and supply of power throughout the western U.S.”
After burning more than $5 billion worth of Wyoming coal at its power plants over the decades, PacifiCorp is making the shift — although critics say too slowly — to not only renewables backed by energy storage, according to Crane but to nuclear and natural gas.
In fact, PacifiCorp has converted two of four coal-burning units at its Jim Bridger power plant outside Rock Springs to natural gas, and will convert the final two coal-burning units at the Naughton power plant near Kemmerer to natural gas in 2026. However, Crane noted, PacifiCorp isn’t giving up on Wyoming coal. The company is still evaluating whether it makes sense to retrofit coal units at its Jim Bridger and Dave Johnston power plants with carbon capture, use and sequestration technologies.
Despite a steep price tag for such retrofits, if they move forward — estimated at over $1 billion — the efforts would create thousands of construction jobs and sustain hundreds of existing jobs in the state, Crane said.
“This is truly an example of planting the seeds for long-term jobs and economic prosperity in the state,” she said.
Gordon noted that such efforts to push new commercial-scale technologies are expensive, including for customers, but suggested it is worth the investment.
“The technologies that have come along over the last couple of years are remarkable,” Gordon said. “Yes, some of them are very expensive. First-generation stuff generally is. But we’ve all had the benefit of lessons of time to develop the technologies and see what can be done better.”
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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