The coal power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming, owned by Rocky Mountain Power, is scheduled to be decommissioned next year.
One view is that Wyoming, built on fossil fuels and long one of America's top energy producing states, with major wind and solar projects coming online, is on the front lines of America's transition to lower carbon energy. "Currently, the country seems to think that if we take coal off the power grid that somehow we're going to do great things for removing CO2 from the atmosphere," said Gov. Mark Gordon, in an interview with NPR.Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, says the Biden administration is putting up roadblocks when it comes to developing carbon sequestration technologies at coal power plants.by more than half in the past 20 years.
There is already new money showing in the 2,400-resident town in anticipation of the nuclear plant. It's a big deal for a place where, just a few years ago, it felt like the bottom was about to fall out, Thek says. He's worried about the 100 or more coal plant workers who are about to lose their jobs, likely years before the new nuclear plant opens.
But people in Wyoming have heard promises from energy companies before — they don't always pan out. And some locals say they're getting mixed signals about Kemmerer's future.