Posted inEnergy

TerraPower: Natrium reactor plant delayed due to limited HALEU

GILLETTE, Wyo. — TerraPower’s Natrium reactor demonstration plant in Kemmerer will be delayed, but it’s still coming, President and CEO Chris Levesque said. The timeline established for completing the reactor through the Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program assumed the use of nuclear fuel from high-assay low-enriched uranium, or HALEU, from Russia, since the United States isn’t producing […]

Posted inEnergy

Surface Transportation Board chair says he’s committed to filling coal vacancies

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin J. Oberman said in a letter today to Wyoming’s U.S. senators that he’s committed to filling coal-related vacancies on the board’s Rail Energy Transportation Advisory Committee as soon as possible. He anticipates they’ll be filled by early March. The Surface Transportation Board is an independent federal agency that handles the economic regulation of freight rail […]

Posted inBusiness

Gillette local union chair: Potential railroad strike wouldn’t wreck U.S. economy

GILLETTE, Wyo. — While most of the railroad unions negotiating with the National Carriers Conference Committee received a majority of their members’ approval on tentative five-year national collective bargaining agreements, a few didn’t. Those unions are the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, or BRS; the SMART-TD (with respect to one of its contracts), Brotherhood Maintenance of Way Employees […]

Posted inAnimals

Wyoming celebrates Bat Week

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Oct. 24 through Oct. 31 is Bat Week, an international celebration to raise awareness about the need for bat conservation. Devils Tower National Monument park staff said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that they’ve been studying 11 bat species for several years and that Devils Tower Natural History Association has donated more than $11,000 […]

Posted inEnergy

Wyoming gas, diesel working group pinpoints 3 policy options to lower gas prices

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Gov. Mark Gordon’s Gas and Diesel Working Group released a report Tuesday featuring its recommendations on reducing gas prices for Wyoming residents. Gordon set up the working group in June amid record-level inflation and gas prices. The group held two public meetings in July and conducted working sessions to make recommendations as to how gas prices […]

Posted inBusiness

Railroad unions could strike Friday

GILLETTE, Wyo. — The federally mandated cooling-off period between freight railroads and train unions ends at midnight Eastern Time on Friday, Sept. 16. By that time, freight railroads must come to an agreement with train unions or Congress must take action. Otherwise, train unions can strike. The National Carriers Conference Committee has reached tentative agreements with many […]

Posted inEnergy

Powder River Basin Resource Council sues federal government regarding BLM drilling project

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Western Watersheds Project and Powder River Basin Resource Council have sued the federal government regarding the Converse County Oil and Gas Project. The Advocates for the West law firm is representing the conservation groups in the case against the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management regarding the 5,000 oil […]

Posted inEnergy

Biden gets win in Wyoming on oil and gas leasing court decision

GILLETTE, Wyo. — A federal judge decided Friday that the Biden Administration had the authority to postpone oil and gas lease sales in early 2021, despite industry groups’ challenges. Western Energy Alliance and the Petroleum Association of Wyoming challenged the president, the Secretary of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. In a joined case, […]

Posted inLatest News

(PHOTOS) Stakeholders brainstorm Powder River Basin business, energy solutions at conference in Gillette

GILLETTE, Wyo. — Participants in the Carbon Ore, Rare Earth Element, and Critical Mineral, or CORE-CM, project, are working together to promote business development around energy resources in the Powder River Basin. Stakeholders met Aug. 30 and Sept. 1 at Gillette College Technical Education Center to support economic development around these resources. Through networking and discussion sessions, participants […]

Posted inBusiness

HF Sinclair: $500K Cheyenne Refinery decommissioning charges decreased Q2 net income

CASPER, Wyo. — Decommissioning charges associated with the Cheyenne Refinery conversion to renewable diesel production decreased HF Sinclair Corp.’s second quarter net income, the corporation reported Monday. Before taxes, the lower of cost or market inventory valuation adjustment of $34.5 million, acquisition integration costs of $12.5 million and decommissioning charges of $500,000 related to the […]

Posted inWyoming

Neighbors saw Campbell boy’s talent for horses, trained him for National High School Finals Rodeo

GILLETTE, Wyo. — While two-time National High School Finals Rodeo competitor Cody Boller started riding horses as a young boy, this is only his second year in the sport of cutting. Peppy, the bay mare quarter horse Boller rode in last year’s nationals, has been the ticket to the National High School Finals Rodeo for getting started in cutting […]

Posted inEnergy

Petroleum group intervenes in drilling permit challenge on BLM lands

CASPER, Wyo. — Today, the Petroleum Association of Wyoming sought to intervene in a case pending before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The case, Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians v. United States Department of Interior, et al., concerns drilling on federal lands. Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians, […]

Posted inEnergy

Governor, Cheney react to HF Sinclair layoff report

CASPER, Wyo. ⁠— HF Sinclair Corp. laid off nearly 100 employees at its Sinclair refinery Tuesday, radio station Bigfoot 99 reported Wednesday. While the company has neither confirmed or denied the layoffs, state and federal government officials are reacting to the news. “I am troubled to learn of the HollyFrontier Sinclair refinery layoffs,” Gov. Mark […]

Posted inEnergy

Analysis finds growing solar energy generation in Wyoming

CASPER, Wyo. — While relatively uncommon in Wyoming, rooftop solar is growing and worth the cost, according to a recent report. The Powder River Basin Resource Council, Wyoming Outdoor Council, and Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club commissioned the benefit–cost analysis report. The study, “The Benefits and Costs of Net Metering Solar Distributed Generation in Wyoming,” […]