Wyoming
Wyoming lawmakers punt on protecting electric utilities from wildfire liability – WyoFile
A panel of lawmakers punted Monday on an effort to address the rising cost of electricity in the wake of utility sparked wildfires, which industry officials describe as an existential threat. The multipronged legislation, which sought to incentivize power companies to make wildfire mitigation upgrades in exchange for limits on damage claims, was too mired in complex amendments to secure the votes needed to move forward.
The Minerals, Business and Economic Development interim committee tabled the draft Public utilities-wildfire protection plans and liability measure, which means it will not be introduced as a committee-sponsored bill in the upcoming legislative session that begins in January. A group of stakeholders that crafted the bill, however, will likely seek individual sponsors, according to one member.
Climate-driven wildfire and utilities
Wildfires, driven by human-caused climate change, have become much more frequent and intense, particularly in the West. The region’s vast network of electric power lines and other energized facilities is aging and it simply wasn’t built to safely operate in an ever warmer and drier climate, according to industry experts.
Utilities have sparked devastating fires in California, Hawaii and Texas in recent years, prompting hundreds of lawsuits seeking enormous payouts. PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, faces tens of billions of dollars in claims for its role in wildfires that raged in Oregon in 2020.
Some industry leaders in Wyoming say it’s only a matter of time before a similar situation plays out here. “We’re just one wildfire away from bankruptcy if we don’t have liability relief,” Wyoming Rural Electric Association Executive Director Shawn Taylor told WyoFile earlier this year.
Meantime, utilities face another potentially crushing financial strain in the form of soaring insurance costs. Wyoming’s largest electric utility, Rocky Mountain Power, cites skyrocketing wildfire liability in its current bid to increase rates by 14.7%, claiming insurance premiums for its Wyoming operations have risen 1,888% over the past five years.
“What has happened over the last few years is that wildfire has become a real existential threat, not just for the investor-owned utility, but all utilities,” Rocky Mountain Power Vice President of Government Affairs Thom Carter told the committee.
Legislative remedies
The basic legislative concept being considered in Wyoming, which is borrowed from similar measures in other western states, would restrict what wildfire victims can claim damages for when an electric utility sparks a blaze. To qualify for the protection, a utility would be required to invest in and maintain more stringent wildfire mitigation strategies. While the cost of those upgrades would be passed on to customers, they’re intended to stem rising insurance rates, according to proponents.
“This is not intended to be a dollar-for-dollar cost reduction,” Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate Administrator Anthony Ornelas said in support of the bill. “To us, the real benefit here that we’re trying to do is to put some legal protections around … liability exposure.”
Though many committee members agreed the Legislature should provide some protection for utilities from what could be costly damage claims, the bill draft was marked up with too many complicated amendments to move forward, some lawmakers said. Others worried the ultimate goal of the bill — to protect utilities from expensive litigation and to stem rising insurance costs — remains speculative.
“The economics are not aligning in my mind,” Sen. Chris Rothfuss (D-Laramie) said. “I see where it’s really good for the utilities. I’m struggling to see how it’s really good or even marginally good for our ratepayers.”
Though Utah passed a similar bill in 2020, it’s difficult to calculate the net benefit of avoided damage claims and insurance costs versus ongoing investments in wildfire prevention, Carter of Rocky Mountain Power told the committee.
The Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association also warned that the bill may go too far in removing legal remedies for wildfire victims.
For example, a person or entity would not be able to sue a utility that is determined by the Wyoming Public Service Commission to have “reasonably” implemented and maintained a wildfire mitigation plan. But that determination is more suited to be determined by a court or jury, not the public service commission, according to Sarah Kellogg, who serves as the association’s board of directors president.
“This legislation is essentially taking the question of reasonableness away from a jury, after the fact, and giving it to a governmental administrative body to decide reasonableness through a process that has not been laid out at all,” Kellogg told the committee.
“Wyoming juries are conservative people, they’re reasonable people,” Kellogg continued. “So taking this question away from Wyoming people and Wyoming juries — and in an adversarial setting — is not going to be good for Wyomingites.”
In addition to limiting utilities’ liability, several western states have acknowledged rising insurance costs and the need for major spending to prevent utility sparked wildfires. California authorized three utilities there to tap ratepayers for some $27 billion and has created an industrywide fund for such costs.
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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.”
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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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