CODY â Wyoming got the ball rolling Friday to gear up for more litigation against the Environmental Protection Agency, a sprawling federal agency that wants to kill off coal- and natural-gas fired power plants.
The Wyoming Energy Authority has opened a request for proposals (RFP) from âcompanies, organizations and individualsâ to secure services to support suing over the EPAâs recent proposal that could result in the early retirement of Wyoming-based power plants.
The RFP closes June 14.
In an interview Friday on the sidelines of the Wyoming Mining Associationâs annual convention in Cody, WEA Director Rob Creager said that it is tapping $300,000 from an $1.2 million litigation fund set up a few years ago by the state Legislature to fight Washingtonâs efforts to reduce the electrical gridâs dependency on fossil fuels for power-generating plants.
âWe need to fight back,â Creager told Cowboy State Daily. âWe donât want coal to go anywhere but up. Itâs very dangerous what theyâre doing.â
What The Rule Does
The proposed EPA rule could shut down power plants just as demand for electricity is soaring in America, principally due to energy-starved enterprise data centers and an uptick in industrial effort to reshore factories in America.
âWherever folks stand on these rules, these do not help. There is no way if they go into effect that theyâll switch the power on with the timeline they have set, and lights go on at the other end,â Creager said. âWe want to make sure weâre producing as much Wyoming power as possible thatâs viable and affordable."
The EPA rule also impacts the stateâs efforts to push investment in carbon capture equipment on power plants to lower toxic emissions into the air, he said.
âWhat this rule does is really affect our approach to carbon capture and forces us to timelines that are just not realistic for us to do well and thoughtfully,â he said. âIf this rule stands, you either shut down your goal or you convert to gas. Itâs very costly to consumers to shut down coal, very costly to utilities, and essentially the consumers if you have to convert to gas.â
WMA Executive Director Travis Deti applauded the stateâs gambit.
âWeâre very pleased to see this,â Deti said. "This is a big fight, and we need to be using every tool in the box to win.â
The coal industry has been getting hit with a run of bad headlines of late.
The RFP is the first step in what could become a yearslong fight to overturn an EPA rule issued in April designed to regulate coal and natural gas-fired power plants out of existence over the next decade. Such a move would hurt Wyoming economically, which is why the WEA and Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon are taking steps to sue the federal agency.
In Wyoming, the rules will hit many of the coal-fired plants from Naughton and Bridger in the southwestern part of the state, to Dry Fork near Gillette and the Dave Johnston plant near Glenrock.
The rules also represent a big economic hit to the Cowboy Stateâs coal-rich Powder River Basin in northeastern part of the state where more than 4,000 people are employed in the industry.
Wyoming Lawmakers Blast EPA
Meanwhile, U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both of whom are Republicans from Wyoming, blasted the EPA and other federal agency rules that are designed to phase out coal and natural gas-fired plants.
âWeâre in the most difficult time, with the most difficult administration, that weâve ever seen,â said Lummis at the WMA convention. âThe attacks on mining are unprecedented. This is a lawless administration.â
Lummis said that plans are in the works to reverse the EPAâs efforts to end coal and another controversial rule being crafted by the Bureau of Land Management that would stop coal leasing on public lands by 2041.
Should presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump win the November presidential election, âWeâre going to be in a position to turn this thing aroundâ in the first six months of a Trump win, Lummis said.
Barrasso echoed the remarks delivered by Lummis.
âWeâre Americaâs energy breadbasket, where we produce 12 times the amount of energy that we use in this state,â Barrasso said.
âThe president has weaponized the EPA, weaponized them to prioritize climate over energy that is available, affordable and reliable. Climate for them is a religion,â he said of the Biden administration. âThis is coming at the same time where anybody whoâs rational and logical and understands energy, would say, âWe need more energy, not less, at a time when AI (artificial intelligence) is needed in terms of cryptocurrency.â
âTheyâre trying to electrify the grid and make more and more people drive electric vehicles. We need more energy, not less.â
Gordon, who delivered a keynote speech later Friday at the WMA convention, has directed Wyoming Attorney General Bridget Hill to investigate forming a coalition of states to challenge the new EPA rules in court.
Editor's note: This story and headline have been edited to clarify that this is the first step in this latest legal process, not Wyoming's first step overall in taking legal action to defend the state's energy industries.
Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.