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Pat Maio

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An aerial view of the Coal Creek mine about 30 miles southeast of Gillette.

Coal Giant Arch Resources To Keep Shrinking Wyoming ‘Operational Footprint’

Arch Resources, the second largest coal producer in Wyoming, reported Thursday that it plans to keep shrinking its “operational footprint” in Wyoming’s energy-rich Powder River Basin. Its end-goal is the "eventual closure" of its Wyoming mines.

Pat MaioJuly 25, 2024

Wyoming Oil And Gas Drilling Halted On 120,000 Acres By Federal Judge

A federal judge has told the Bureau of Land Management to halt issuing oil and gas drilling permits on 120,000 acres of public land in Wyoming. The ruling is to allow for a review of environmental impacts.

Pat MaioJuly 25, 2024

Coal Production in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin Falls 30%

The collapse in coal production continues out of the state’s energy-rich Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming. Second quarter data released Wednesday shows coal production has slipped nearly 30% from the second quarter of 2023

Pat MaioJuly 24, 2024

Wyomingites Frustrated By Biden On Energy Will Hate Harris, Industry Execs Say

Wyomingites frustrated by President Joe Biden’s energy policy will hate Kamala Harris, industry executives say. With Biden bowing out of the presidential election, Harris is now the frontrunner to be the Democratic nominee.

Pat MaioJuly 23, 2024

Now with $28 million in funding, Denver-based Cowboy Clean Fuels hopes to have its Powder River Basin biofuels facility located 30 miles southwest of Gillette operational by the end of 2024.

Clean Energy Startup Has $28 Million To Create Biogas From Wyoming Sugar Beets

A clean energy startup has $28 million to build a facility in the Powder River Basin to turn Wyoming sugar beets into biogas. That includes $13 million announced Monday from a former Texas oilman.

Pat MaioJuly 23, 2024

Glenrock resident John Gatewood, who provides ridesharing services during Cheyenne Frontier Days, got stuck in Fort Collins having no one to bring back to Wyoming because the Uber app blocks passengers from riding in vehicles that are registered in the Cowboy State.

Wyoming Uber, Lyft Drivers Blocked From Picking Up Passengers In Colorado

Cheyenne Frontier Days is the most lucrative time of the year for Uber and Lyft drivers. But Colorado blocks Wyoming drivers from picking up passengers at DIA or anywhere else in the state due to differences in emissions standards.

Pat MaioJuly 22, 2024

Wyoming produces much of America's thermal coal, and also is home to several coal-fired power plants.

Wyoming To Study Overhaul Of How Electricity Producers Are Taxed

Wyoming’s Budget Planning Office is hiring a legal consultant to advise a powerful group of legislators on overhauling the state’s electricity taxes. The study could lead to major changes in how taxes are collected from electricity producers.

Pat MaioJuly 19, 2024

Skeptics Disagree With Study That Finds Wyoming Tops In The Nation In Energy Costs

Wyomingites pay more on their energy bills than anyone else in the U.S. and almost twice as much as the second-highest state, according to a new study. But economist and state Sen. Cale Case says the study is critically flawed.

Pat MaioJuly 19, 2024

Concept illustration showing a campus of six BWXT micro nuclear power plants.

Virginia Firm Partners With Wyoming To Study Nuclear Fuel Factory Spots

Nuclear technology innovator BWX Technologies on Thursday agreed to work with the Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) to evaluate requirements on where to build a potential nuclear fuel factory in the state.

Pat MaioJuly 18, 2024

Wyoming Hires Second Powerful Law Firm To Fight Washington's Coal Policies

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon has hired another major law firm to fight anti-coal policies from the Environmental Protection Agency. The firm employs former President Trump's former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Pat MaioJuly 18, 2024

Casper's Ur-Energy Sees Boost In Uranium Production

According to regulatory filings on Wednesday, Casper-based Ur-Energy is one of the first major uranium mining players in Wyoming to see evidence of stronger demand by electric utilities of its ore, which is needed to power nuclear power plants.

Pat MaioJuly 18, 2024

Drilling rig worker Zachary Christensen stands next to the rig where he was collecting core samples from a mining operation for rare earths planned by Ramaco Resources Inc. in Ranchester, Wyoming.

Ramaco Resources Preparing To Build Plant To Transform Coal

Ramaco Resources is close to starting work on a pilot demonstration plant that will convert coal mined from a Ranchester mine into strategic rare earth minerals. They estimate they'll be pulling up to 2 million tons of coal annually out of the old Brook mine by 2026.

Pat MaioJuly 17, 2024

Other Authors

Wyo-Ben Inc. CEO David Brown standing in front of a newly constructed cat litter processing plant in Billings, Montana, where some of the company’s bentonite ends up getting packaged into bags of cat litter for big retailers like Target or PetSmart.

Mining Company Sees 'Paws-Abilities' In Growing Cat Litter Business

Wyoming's sodium bentonite companies produce over 70% of the world’s supply, with privately held Wyo-Ben going up against larger rivals like Mineral Technologies and Haliburton’s Bentonite Performance.

Pat MaioJuly 16, 2024

Exploring American Rare Earth's operation near Wheatland, Wyoming.

Australian Firm Test Drilling On $456 Million Rare Earths Project Near Wheatland

American Rare Earths' mining project near Wheatland, which could have one of the richest rare earths deposits in the world, on Monday said it had begun test drilling.

Pat MaioJuly 15, 2024

The first vehicle travels over a rebuilt temporary fix for the collapsed section of Teton Pass.

Wyoming Did Propose Drilling A Tunnel Through Teton Pass But It Never Went Anywhere

The former head of the Wyoming Dept of Transportation did submit a request to the federal government to drill a hole through Teton Pass instead of maintaining a road over it. But it never went anywhere.

Pat MaioJuly 12, 2024

Key Legislator Worries Activists Could Hurt Wyoming Economy In Oil And Gas Auctions

State Rep. Cyrus Western, the outgoing House majority whip, is concerned that a Lander-based conservation advocacy organization is waging a war on Wyoming’s middle class through the state’s oil and gas lease auction bidding process.

Pat MaioJuly 11, 2024

Shirley Basin was a Wyoming uranium boomtown that's setting up to boom again. This old photo was shared to the "People That Used To Live In Shirley Basin Wyoming" Facebook page.

No End In Sight For Wyoming’s New Uranium Rush

A rush for producing Wyoming uranium continues with no end in sight. The latest in the mix is an exploration company from Canada that hopes to muscle its way into the state’s Shirley Basin to possibly attract takeover interest.

Pat MaioJuly 11, 2024

Alan Minier, left, former chairman of the Wyoming Public Service Commission and State Board of Equalization, opposes the Rail Tie project because the previous owner, ConnectGen, and current owner Repsol Renewables North America failed to file proper financial statements proving their “financial adequacy” to build the $500 million energy development.

Controversial $500M Wind Farm Gets Go-Ahead After Heated Closed-Door Meeting

The controversial $500 million Rail Tie wind farm in Albany County got the go-ahead from Wyoming regulators Wednesday. Things reportedly got heated at times as the developer and activists met behind closed doors for hours.

Pat MaioJuly 10, 2024

The Red Desert is a high altitude sagebrush steppe and dry landscape in southern Wyoming.

BLM May Limit Plan For 600,000 Acres Of CO2 Storage For Wyoming Ammonia Plant

A Wyoming BLM assessment could severely limit a massive 600,000-acre carbon dioxide storage plan. The CO2 storage would be needed to build an industrial-scale coal-to-ammonia plant in southwest Wyoming.

Pat MaioJuly 10, 2024

Wind turbines stand nearly 300 feet tall in southern Wyoming in this file photo.

Spanish Company To Develop Huge Wind Farm North Of Cheyenne

Spanish energy giant Repsol has plans to build a huge 500- to 600-megawatt wind farm northwest of Cheyenne, Cowboy State Daily confirmed Tuesday. It’s the same company that bought the controversial Rail Tie wind project outside of Laramie in the spring.

Pat MaioJuly 09, 2024

A pair of pronghorn near Pinedale, Wyoming, with several oil and gas rigs in the background.

In Major Policy Shift, Wyoming Redefines Who Can Bid On State Oil And Gas Leases

Wyoming has changed its rules to discourage environmental groups from attempting to lock up state oil and gas leases. That means the Wyoming Outdoor Council can’t bid in this week's state-run oil and gas lease auction.

Pat MaioJuly 08, 2024

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