Nuclear power generates electricity without the direct combustion of fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases. And we hope that our investment in Natrium will allow Wyoming to stay in the lead for many decades to come.” “Wyoming has been a leader in energy for over a century.

“We think Natrium will be a game-changer for the energy industry,” Gates said in a June virtual appearance in Wyoming. The plant was one of four scheduled for closure that were under consideration for TerraPower’s Wyoming Advanced Nuclear Demonstration Project. TerraPower, a Bellevue-based nuclear energy company founded by Bill Gates, announced plans to build a new reactor called Natrium-cooled by liquid sodium-at the site of the Naughton coal plant.

This week came big news, and fresh hope for an economic revival of Kemmerer. “This is slowly eating away at the community.” “With the power plant shutting down in five years, would you open a new restaurant or new business of any kind?” said Tom Crank, a former state legislator and civil engineer who has lived in Kemmerer since 1968. In 2025, the town faces a stark reckoning when Rocky Mountain Power’s Naughton coal plant is scheduled to close, which also will leave a more difficult future for a nearby mine. Kemmerer’s decline has come as the coal industry, despite a recent surge in demand, has suffered a long-term loss of markets to cleaner, cheaper sources of electricity. Some that remain open have “for sale” signs in the windows. In the blocks surrounding the park, many businesses have closed, leaving behind aging storefronts. Penney department store still sells clothing in this town of fewer than 3,000 people. The entrepreneur would go on to forge a nationwide retail empire. In 1902, he opened a dry-goods store here to serve workers who dug coal from a nearby mine. KEMMERER, Wyoming-In a triangle-shaped park, a bronze statue honors the legacy of J.C. PacifiCorp has wind farms elsewhere but Wyoming has the best sites for wind density in the utility’s service territory, Eskelsen said.Third in a series with the Seattle Times on the future of nuclear power in the United States in the era of climate change. “The demand for electricity is continuing to grow, the energy economy is changing rapidly, and so we look to Wyoming to be a resource to help us meet the needs of our customers for many years to come.” “We’re not done yet,” Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen said. It took Rocky Mountain Power several months to declare the facility commercially operational. The final Wyoming wind project, the 500-megawatt TB Flats wind farm in Carbon County, went online in April. The expanded wind capacity goes to customers in Wyoming as well as California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington - the six states served by Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company, Portland, Oregon-based PacifiCorp. The program also involved revamping existing wind farms and building 140 miles (225 kilometers) of transmission line between Medicine Bow and Rock Springs in southern Wyoming. Rocky Mountain Power’s Energy Vision 2020 plan, announced in 2017, included four Wyoming wind projects: Cedar Springs I, Cedar Springs II, Ekola Flats and TB Flats.Ĭombined, they have a capacity of 1,150 megawatts, enough for more than 300,000 average-sized homes. An electric utility has completed its plan to more than double the amount of wind power it can send to customers in the Rocky Mountain region and Northwest.

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