Wyoming lawmakers want to limit utility usage of in-state wind energy

Dive Brief:

Nine Republican lawmakers in Wyoming—seven Representatives and a pair of Senators—have proposed a bill that would stop utilities from using wind power to meet customer demands, likely pressing them to burn more coal instead.
Inside Climate News reports bill sponsor Rep. David Miller (R) gives the measure only about a 50-50 chance of passing, but he wants to see Wyoming consumers supplied with cheap existing coal energy produced in the state.
The measure, Senate File 71, requires 95% of utility deliveries be from "eligible resources" in 2018, a list which excludes large-scale wind and solar. By 2019, the requirement would rise to 100%.

Dive Insight:

Instead of a renewable portfolio standard, where Wyoming might require utilities use a certain percentage of clean energy, the state is going the opposite way.

Under the proposed rule, utilities would pay a penalty of $10/MWh for energy not supplied from a list of resources that includes net-metered projects and traditional resources like coal, gas, nuclear, hydro and oil. Conspicuously absent from the list: utility-scale solar and wind projects.

The bill states: "In compliance year 2018, each electric utility shall procure a minimum of ninety-five percent (95%) of its sales of electricity in Wyoming from eligible generating resources." Head over to Inside Climate News, which has more details from bill-sponsor Miller as well as the industry response. So far, utilities aren't sure what to make of the proposal, and environmentalists are horrified.

Wyoming is a major producer of coal—more than 40% of the United States' supplies came from the Powder River Basin in 2015. And according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 10 states (including Wyoming) obtain more than 90% of their domestic coal from the state. The decline of the coal industry has hit the resource-heavy state particularly hard, as coal counts as one of its top three revenue sources. The Cowboy state is facing budget shortfalls in the wake of a decline in oil and gas production in addition to coal.

Almost 90% of the state's power generation came from coal in 2015, and the state had the third lowest average retail electricity rates of any state in 2015. While the price of large-scale renewables is declining, existing coal-fired generation remains the cheaper option.

Wyoming has plentiful wind potential, but the state has a complicated relationship with the resource. The state is among just a few to tax wind production - though lawmakers last year rejected a proposal to increase the tax. In 2015, a tax of $1/MWh on wind power generated $3.8 million.