Writer

Pat Maio

Find Pat Maio

Envelope

Latest from Pat Maio

While construction has begun at the site of TerraPower's Natrium nuclear facility near Kemmerer, Wyoming, testing of the technology that will be used in the reactor continues at the company's testing facility in Everett, Washington.

Wyoming To Expand Critical Minerals Permitting To Include Uranium, Rare Earths

With Wyoming positioning to become ground zero for a new U.S. nuclear power revolution, the state is finalizing rules to expand its energy regulatory authority to include uranium and rare earths mining, aka “nuclear source material."

Pat MaioMay 28, 2024

On left, Carol Anne Hopkins and Dale Hopkins, drove four hours from Riverton, Wyoming, to see the burial site of her parents and participate in the observation of fallen military heroes.

Families Snubbed At Cheyenne National Cemetery On Memorial Day

As many as 100 showed up at Cheyenne National Cemetery on Monday morning for an advertised Memorial Day service in honor of fallen heroes and loved ones. But the VA never showed up to host the service.

Pat MaioMay 27, 2024

Hi Market co-manager CJ Allison changes the price of unleaded gas from $3.34 a gallon to $2.38 a gallon on Saturday.

Conservative Advocacy Group Lowers Gas To $2.38 A Gallon At Cheyenne Gas Station

On a nationwide bus tour, conservative activist group Americans for Prosperity gave a $1 discount to motorists filling up at a Cheyenne gas station Sunday, rolling back the price to $2.38 a gallon, what it was at the beginning of the Biden administration.

Pat MaioMay 26, 2024

Bill Schott, supervisor of the wastewater treatment plant for the Laramie Public Works Department, stands along a 2-mile stream of nonpotable water treated at the plant, with the effluent eventually making its way to the Laramie River.

Sewage Treatment Plants All Across Wyoming Are Falling Apart

Signs of age are beginning to cripple Wyoming’s sewage treatment system. Some cities are in dire need of tens of millions of dollars to upgrade their systems.

Pat MaioMay 25, 2024

Matt Balcazar, who works at PacifiCorp’s Dave Johnston coal-fired power plant in Glenrock, isn’t happy with PacifiCorp after he’s had trouble getting them to listen to him about why he needs long-term medical care following a coal dust fire at the Dave Johnston plant on Nov. 2, 2022. This is a photo of Balcazar shortly after he was airlifted by helicopter from the Dave Johnston plant to the burn unit of the Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado.

Life Will Never Be The Same For Pair Caught In Flash Fire At Wyoming Power Plant

Barely four weeks on the job, electrician Matthew Balcazar and a co-worker were severely burned when a coal-dust combustion erupted in a storage silo at the Dave Johnston power plant near Glenrock, Wyoming.

Pat MaioMay 24, 2024

Exploratory work being performed by Visionary Metals Corp. at its King Solomon prospect site, located north of Jeffrey City, Wyoming.

Visionary Metals May Have A $1 Billion Nickel Claim In Central Wyoming

Lander-based Visionary Metals, whose chief executive has family ties to the famed uranium heartland community of Jeffrey City, is staking a potential $1 billion claim on America’s next big strategic mineral — nickel.

Pat MaioMay 23, 2024

South Cheyenne rancher Ed Prosser drives past Black Angus cattle feeding on prairie grass near his 2,800-acre ranch. Canada energy giant Enbridge Inc. plans to build a $1.2 billion solar farm to the north and east of his land.

Huge 1.2 Million-Panel Wyoming Solar Farm Gets Green Light To Build

The largest solar power project in Wyoming — a $1.2 billion, 1.2-million panel farm -- on Tuesday was given the green light to start building. It will supply electricity to the incoming data centers which will be built in south Cheyenne.

Pat MaioMay 22, 2024

Crypto, Data Centers, Push for EVs Will Explode The Need For Electricity, Barrasso Says

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that the amount of energy the country will need in five years is going to increase so much, it's like "adding a whole new California."

Pat MaioMay 21, 2024

An illustration of what an "orchard" of silos to pull carbon dioxide out of the air and sequester it underground in central Wyoming could look like.

Firm That Wants To Build Carbon-Sucking Silos In Wyoming Signs Deal With Saudis

Spiritus, a venture capital firm that wants to build a direct air carbon capture project in Wyoming, signed a deal with Saudi-backed Aramco Ventures to develop its technology on a pilot project in the Middle Eastern country.

Pat MaioMay 20, 2024

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

Can Wyoming Break With Federal Government And Become Energy Independent?

Wyoming legislators are examining an approach to energy independence and ownership of coal- and natural-gas power plants that would directly pit them against the Biden administration’s policy of ending coal production by 2041.

Pat MaioMay 20, 2024

Natrona County Coroner James Whipps keeps the cremated remains of indigent people contained in square, box-shaped urns in a fireproof filing cabinet in one of his offices until he can find next-of-kin.

Wyoming Coroner Finds Unclaimed Remains In Shared Coffins Or Shipped Out Of State

Natrona County Coroner James Whipps was shocked to find inconsistent and haphazard treatment of unidentified remains. He found them stored on shelves, buried in communal coffins or shipped out of state. He’s on a mission to change that.

Pat MaioMay 18, 2024

Rig workers move pipe at a coalbed methane well in the Powder River Basin south of Gillette in this file photo.

Wyoming Oil And Gas Group Challenges Suffocating EPA, BLM Rules

The Petroleum Association of Wyoming joined with other trade groups this week to file a pair of lawsuits challenging Biden administration rules that could suffocate gas, oil and methane production.

Pat MaioMay 16, 2024

Other Authors

President Joe Biden, left, and a Powder River Basin coal shovel loading a haul truck.

Biden Administration's BLM Issues Rule To Kill Wyoming Coal By 2041

The BLM issued a rule on Thursday that would end coal production in Wyoming's energy-rich Powder River Basin by 2041. Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said his attorney general will pursue legal options to challenge the rule.

Pat MaioMay 16, 2024

Crews scout an area about 20 miles west of Cheyenne in 2018. Now U.S. Gold Corp. wants to build the CK Gold Mine at the site and is going through the state permitting process.

Surging Prices Make Planned Wyoming Gold And Copper Mine Worth $3.7 Billion

The economy may be tough these days, but gold and copper prospects for Cheyenne-based U.S. Gold are surging, making the mine worth an estimated $3.7 billion.

Pat MaioMay 16, 2024

RMP: $116M Electricity Rate Hike For Wyoming Due To Inflation, Coal Disruptions

The president of Rocky Mountain Power says their proposed $116.3 million electricity rate hike for Wyoming residents is due to Inflation and coal market disruptions. This hike would be in addition to an 8.3% increase that went into effect Jan 1

Pat MaioMay 15, 2024

The Halleck Creek site in Wyoming, now called the Cowboy State Mine site.

Wyoming's Rare Earths Industry May See Boost from Chinese Tariffs On Imports

Wyoming’s burgeoning rare earths industry may have received a big boost by the federal government with the announcement of $18 billion in tariffs on Chinese goods. The tariffs will affect minerals that Wyoming has a super abundance of.

Pat MaioMay 14, 2024

The Sinclair refinery in Sinclair, Wyoming, in this 2011 file photo.

Combined HF Sinclair Reports 7% Revenue Drop In First Quarter Since Merger

Dallas-based HF Sinclair Corp., formed when HollyFrontier bought Sinclair, reports a 7% drop in revenue in the new company’s first quarterly report. It also predicts an upturn for its namesake Sinclair refinery.

Pat MaioMay 13, 2024

Peninsula Energy's Lance in-situ uranium recovery project in northeast Wyoming.

Australia Company Targets 85 Million Pounds Of Uranium In Northeast Wyoming

Australia-based Peninsula Energy has boosted estimates for uranium in northeast Wyoming to nearly 85 million pounds at its three area mines, along with processing yellowcake.

Pat MaioMay 13, 2024

South Cheyenne rancher Ed Prosser looks north of his farmland off of Chalk Bluff Road where 1.2 million solar panels will be visible after Canadian energy giant Enbridge builds the $1.2 billion project starting next year.

Massive $1.2 Billion Panel Solar Farm Planned For South Cheyenne

The pastoral landscape south of Cheyenne is getting carved up to make way for a $1.2 billion Canadian company's solar farm project that will supply electricity to data centers on the south edge of the city. Not everyone's happy about it.

Pat MaioMay 11, 2024

Naughton coal-fired plant along Highway 189 in Kemmerer, operated by Rockuy Mountain Power.

Wyoming Sues Biden’s EPA Over Coal And Gas Power Plant Rules

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon filed a pair of lawsuits Wednesday and Thursday challenging federal environmental rules that could economically cripple the Cowboy State’s coal and natural gas-fired power plants.

Pat MaioMay 09, 2024

With last year’s permanent closing of the Intermountain Speedway in South Cheyenne, the road to the High Plains Business Park where the Meta enterprise data center is being built was recently renamed the High Plains Road. (

EXCLUSIVE: Meta Coming To Cheyenne; Multibillion-Dollar Data Center Planned

Cowboy State Daily has confirmed social media giant Meta Platforms Inc., billionaire Mark Zuckerberg’s conglomerate that owns Facebook and Instagram, is building a multibillion-dollar data center in Cheyenne.

Pat MaioMay 09, 2024

Page 7