2016 Wyoming Energy Plan – Doubling Down on Coal

In the face of a radically altered economic and energy picture for Wyoming, Governor Matt Mead released an updated energy strategy for the State on March 14, 2016. Titled “Leading the Charge: Wyoming’s Action Plan for Energy, Environment, and Economy,” the plan is an update of a similar report issued by the State in 2013, the first of its kind in the nation. The State is facing significant budget challenges from the loss of royalty income, severance taxes, and jobs from low oil and gas prices and the even more dramatic decline of coal mine revenue as key coal mining companies in the State seek bankruptcy protection. Approximately 60% of State government revenues come from mineral development.

Gov. Mead proposes to meet the budget challenges by addressing the backbone of the State’s economy – energy development. The 2013 report set forth 45 initiatives, 28 of which have been completed, and the 2016 strategy adds several new priorities. Emphasizing his commitment to the coal industry, the Governor summed up his approach as “a doubling down on coal and a very good start on renewables.” Specifically, the energy plan includes:

• A “carbon innovation” effort for the development of “clean coal” technologies by building on the success of the Integrated Test Center, a public-private partnership with the XPRIZE, to develop and test new technologies for the capture of CO2 emissions.
• Harnessing Wyoming’s Class 5-7 wind energy resources with a new Wind Energy Manufacturing Initiative, led by the Wyoming Business Council. The goal would be to attract wind turbine manufacturing to the State.
• Hosting a symposium to explore how to turn the devastation caused to Wyoming forests by the Pine Beetle on its head by integrating biomass energy into the State’s overall energy plan.
• Forming a National Environmental Policy Act Team to work with federal agencies to expedite the NEPA process to work more collaboratively with BLM in land use planning and combatting invasive species on public land.
• Identifying and working to reduce areas of duplication in State and Federal regulations.
• In light of coal company bankruptcies and self-bonding the State had permitted earlier, Wyoming must urgently address coal mine reclamation liabilities. The energy strategy accordingly calls for an examination of the adequacy of reclamation formulas, reviewing reclamation goals and definitions, and analyzing the self-bonding program.
• Diversifying the State’s economy by increasing the emphasis on international exports including coal, oil and gas (LNG), uranium and other resources.
• The strategy also addresses rulemaking proposals, including baseline groundwater testing before oil and gas drilling, setback requirements, a review of flaring rules, and mitigation banking and additional efforts for the protection of Greater sage-grouse.

Gov. Mead hopes that this year’s plan will continue to allow the State to be proactive in planning its future energy development, which will in turn create additional economic and business opportunities for both new and existing industries. The Governor asked for $500,000 to implement the energy strategy in the 2017-2018 budget, which was rejected by the Legislature, so it remains to be seen how much of the plan he will be able to implement.

The full text of Wyoming’s Action Plan can be found here: http://governor.wyo.gov/media/news-releases/2016-news-releases/governormeadannouncesupdatedenergystrategy.