“As we see climate change, we know we don’t have time to waste,” [WY Governor Mark] Gordon said at the event on a treeless Wyoming expanse where not just TransWest Express but two major PacifiCorp transmission lines will soon extend over the horizon, the Los Angeles Times reported.
So that’s what the Governor’s “all-of-the-above-energy approach” actually looks like – give the West the best energy deal, in whatever form they want, as soon as possible.
Repulsive wind turbines ruining our vistas and landscapes for power to be exported to California – a Sunday drive in Wyoming is no longer a wholly pleasant and leisurely experience, but rather like sporadic pokes in the eye in between beautiful views.
A $10 billion data center planned near Evanston by Prometheus Hyperscale intends to have such an abundance of wind energy that “they have reached an agreement with Rocky Mountain Power to use the excess energy from the wind turbines”. If that manifests, that energy will also be exported west.
Because Mark Gordon and the WY Minerals committee insist on appeasing the West on their ‘zero-carbon’ terms, Wyoming has already become a dumping ground for alternative energy trash with decommissioned wind turbines being buried in surface coal mines in Wyoming, or hauled to both Natrona and Uinta County landfills.
An artist in Casper has offered to use some of these surplus blades to build a “Wind Cathedral” and “Stonehedge“. While his recycling intent is noble, it would likely feel just like another poke in the eye to locals – no matter how much you cut these down to smaller sizes, viewing them still feel like an abuse to the psyche.
Now we can also look forward to the scheduled Natrium spectacle in Kemmerer to export the power to the West Coast. Just like the hideous wind turbines, it is confirmed that power generated by the Bill Gates’ nuclear reactor will also be exported to Washington, Oregon, and California.
From the Wyoming Economic Development Association, Oct 4, 2024:
THE TERRAPOWER NUCLEAR PLANT SUPPORTS PACIFICORP CUSTOMERS
The energy produced by Kemmerer Power Station Unit 1 will be exported to PacifiCorp, which serves customers in Washington, Oregon, and California. The project is part of PacifiCorp’s net-zero emissions strategy for 2050. This project could potentially expand in the future and other utility companies could invest in nuclear energy within Wyoming.
“The advanced nuclear resources that appear in the plan represent a promising future for our employees and communities in rural Utah and Wyoming,” says Rick Link, Senior Vice President at PacifiCorp. “As we transition to a net-zero energy future, it is important to leverage the experience, skills, and dedication of the communities that have supplied our energy needs for the past century.”
This could be the start of a strong new industry for Wyoming, creating jobs that support residents for the next century and beyond.
This “promising future” for Wyoming is apparently leverage in PacifiCorp’s (Warren Buffett) estimation.
Trevor Neilson, the President of Prometheus Hyperscale (who already has two data centers planned in Wyoming) was most recently co-founder, chairman, and CEO of WasteFuel, a company that turns municipal rubbish and poop into renewable fuel. Is this company, or any like it, also waiting in line to take advantage of Mark Gordon’s “all-of-the-above-energy-approach”? Wyoming citizens deserve to know about all energy deals being plotted behind closed doors.
Quasi-governmental entity Energy Capital Economic Development in Campbell County has signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement with an unknown entity that for now are only referring to as Project Mammoth. Rusty Bell, the executive director of Energy Capital, said the organization has a “build it and they will come” mindset.
Energy Capital doesn’t believe any Wyoming citizen deserves to know what Project Mammoth is. They are building their Field of Dreams privately and taxpayers, who fund all economic development organizations to a certain degree, should just trust the process in the hands of a large majority of unelected individuals.
At present Wyoming has 15 data centers with another being planned for Casper. Where pray tell do they intend to get their energy (not to mention their water)? Is this what microreactor manufacturing in Wyoming is actually intended for – to power the data centers flooding into our state?! If so, every one of those manufacturers has every intention of storing their spent nuclear fuel here in Wyoming.
So what is Wyoming supposed to be getting from this nuclear/energy renaissance? What have we been promised so far?
- “WY uranium will be used for Terra Power fuel!” Wrong. Terra Power announced they intend to use uranium from South Africa.
- “Revenue from Radiant micro-reactors!” Wrong. Radiant contracted with the U.S. Military who is a tax-free entity. (Glad we dodged that bullet!!)
- “We’ll benefit from the infrastructure!” Wrong. WY citizens will pay for infrastructure projects planned by corporate elites – whether we want them or not.
- “Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!” Terra Power began construction in August for a “state-of-the-art Kemmerer Training Center“, and was just approved for a $4 Million grant for sewer infrastructure to “accommodate an estimated 2,000 new homes and an influx of up to 3,000 incoming workers in Kemmerer”. How many Wyomingites actually have, or will be given, jobs on all of these construction projects?? Are these competitive bid projects or are contractors being hand-picked as was done for BWXT? Wyoming citizens deserve to know.
The writing is on the wall. Jobs or no jobs, it should be clear that the governor is no friend to the state that elected him. Mark Gordon believes he is the state. Gordon, his business partners, and the unconstitutional Wyoming Energy Authority (WEA) are attempting to run the state of Wyoming like a ginormous pay-to-play venture capital deal, while those of us who call this land HOME will pay dearly in many ways, across many generations for an unknown amount of centuries.
Wyoming is in desperate need of true leadership to reel this madness back in. The governor is manically pursuing a legacy, any legacy, before his term is up.
For now, decent and faithful lawmakers need to draft and pass legislation that exports the spent nuclear fuel to the West Coast along with the energy they plan on getting from Kemmerer.
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