As Western states move away from coal, Wyoming clings to it

As the rest of the West rushes to meet increasingly ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions, one state is moving in exactly the opposite direction. It’s Wyoming, which even wants to take on the coal-fired generation that states such as Oregon and Washington are abandoning.

Wyoming residents and businesses enjoy among the lowest rates for electricity because most of the state’s power comes from burning coal, but those cost dynamics are changing quickly, making coal a liability.

Recently, a legislative committee advanced a bill to raise taxes on wind energy while also signaling distaste for rooftop solar and other forms of customer-generated electricity. It seems a perplexing stance in the context of other states in the West that are retiring coal-fired power plants at a rapid clip.

But Wyoming leaders worry little about the devastation in the West wrought by climate change, and they criticize PacifiCorp, which proposes to retire several coal-fired units ahead of schedule, for potentially harming Wyoming towns such as Kemmerer, Rock Springs and Glenrock.

Read more: https://www.wyofile.com/as-western-states-move-away-from-coal-wyoming-clings-to-it/