Publications & Resources
The Benefits and Costs of Net Metering Solar Distributed Generation in Wyoming June 13, 2022 Report authors: R. Thomas Beach & Patrick G. McGuire of Crossborder Energy To read the full report, download the PDF. To read the Executive Summary, download the PDF.
This is Powder River Basin Resource Council's 2021 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
This report traces the state’s legacy of coal upgrading projects from the 1980s to the present. The Resource Council researched sixteen different public and private projects that were attempted during the past thirty years and found that only one successfully created a marketable product. The report offers the fifteen failed...
This is Powder River Basin Resource Council's 2020 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
Watch the panel discussion, When Coal is No Longer King from Powder River's 47th Annual Meeting on November 2, 2019. This year’s theme explored how the state’s economy must change as the coal industry shrinks. Panelists Denise Parrish, Deputy Administrator of the Wyoming Office of Consumer Advocate; Robin Cooley, Director of...
This is Powder River Basin Resource Council's 2019 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
July 25, 2019 Natural Resources Defense Council, Northern Plains Resource Council, Powder River Basin Resource Council, The Wilderness Society, and Western Organization of Resource Councils (collectively, Conservation Groups), by and through their counsel, respectfully move to intervene as Respondents in the above-captioned matter. The Conservation Groups move to intervene as...
July 15, 2019 Dear Acting Director Owens, On behalf of our millions of members, many of whom live in areas directly affected by coal mining operations, the undersigned organizations write to you to express our concerns about Blackjewel/Revelation Energy’s bankruptcy filing that occurred on July 1, 2019. We ask that...
Taking a closer look at the numbers for Ramaco’s proposed Brook Coal Mine near Sheridan. The math doesn’t add up. To read the full report, download the PDF.
November 4, 2018 This is Powder River Basin Resource Council's 2018 Annual Report. To read the full report, please download the PDF.
October 31, 2018 Environmental Protection Agency EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC), Mail Code 28221T 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460 Submitted via electronic mail to: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov Re: Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2017-0355 Dear Acting Administrator Wheeler: On behalf of the members of the Powder River Basin Resource Council, thank you for...
Our original report in January 2018 (Delinquent Mineral Taxes and Budget Deficits: A Case for Reform) detailed Wyoming's heavy dependence on mineral taxes to fund state and local government services. We discussed the fact that Wyoming gets more than 70% of our total revenue from taxes on mineral extraction and...
Wyoming’s coal mining legacy dates back to the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1897.1 The state is home to some of the largest coal mines on earth, including the top eight active U.S. mines. Combined, Wyoming mines account for 41% of coal production in the U.S., about the...
Coal accounts for 17 percent of domestic energy production. SMCRA requires coal mine operators to reclaim lands that were disturbed during mining and to submit a financial assurance in an amount sufficient to ensure that adequate funds will be available to complete reclamation if the operator does not do so....
The Resource Council, along with its over 1,000 members throughout the state, advocates for the conservation of Wyoming’s unique land, mineral, water, and clean air resources consistent with responsible use of those resources to sustain the livelihood of present and future generations. Since its founding in 1973, the Resource Council...
April 5, 2018 The practice of self-bonding at coal mines could be ended today without a significant impact to the coal mining industry. That’s the conclusion of a new report, Now is the Time to End Self-Bonding, which points out that self-bonds in the West have hit a historic low,...
In the eight months between August 2015 and April 2016, the three largest coal companies in the United States all filed for bankruptcy: Peabody Energy, Arch Coal, and Alpha Natural Resources. Between them, they had pledged $2.3 billion of self-bonds in support of mine cleanup, known as “reclamation.” Coal companies...
RENEWyoming was born in response to a growing trend of solar installation in Wyoming. Across the state, more people are installing solar panels than ever before. Wyoming is not alone. Nationally and globally solar cell technology has improved and prices have come down accordingly, spurring an increase in installation. People...
This factsheet untangles the facts and fiction surrounding renewable energy subsides. To read the factsheet, download the PDF.
This report recommends that Wyoming implement seven specific actions to protect scarce and dwindling groundwater resources during the unfolding boom in unconventional oil and gas development. To read full report, download the PDF.
Mineral tax revenue is extremely important to Wyoming counties and schools. Over the course of the past five months, Powder River reached out to treasurers in 12 counties and discovered a $42 million deficit in mineral tax collection. In our recent report, Mineral Tax Delinquency and Budget Deficits, we offered...
This December 2010 publication provides a landowners’ perspective on Wyoming’s Split Estate Act, five years after it was passed. It was based on interviews To continue reading, download the following pdf.
The Powder River Basin Resource Council and our Laramie County affiliate, Cheyenne Area Landowners Coalition (CALC), works with home and business- owners to advocate for increased setbacks and improved measures to mitigate air pollution and other quality of life impacts from noise, lights and traffic. In addition to the rules...
The Powder River Basin Resource Council is a grassroots organization of individuals and affiliate groups dedicated to good stewardship of Wyoming’s natural resources. The Resource Council was formed in 1973 and stands for the preservation and enrichment of our agricultural heritage and rural lifestyle; the conservation of Wyoming’s unique land,...
The Powder River Basin Resource Council and our Laramie County affiliate, Cheyenne Area Landowners Coalition (CALC), works with home and business-owners to advocate for increased setbacks and improved measures to mitigate air pollution and other quality of life impacts from noise, lights and traffic. To continue reading, please download the...
Background of the Law The Wyoming split estate act is a tribute to dozens if not hundreds of individuals—both in the state legislature and in communities throughout the state—who worked countless hours for three years to produce a law that provides landowners with some rights over oil and gas development...
On January 18th, 2003 the Bureau of Land Management released the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the development of 40,000 new coalbed methane wells to be drilled over the next decade in the Powder River Basin. Eight million acres in the Basin will be opened up to drilling. Over three...
In a precedent-setting decision issued on August 30th, the Wyoming Supreme Court struck down High...
May - June 2024, Volume 52, Number 3 In May, the Bureau of Land Management...
March - April 2024, Volume 52, Number 2 On February 12, the Department of the...
January - February 2024, Volume 52, Number 1 Last year, High Plains Power became the...
November - December 2023, Volume 51, Number 6 While daily life in the Equality State...
September - October 2023, Volume 51, Number 5 Powder River staff and members traveled to...
July - August 2023, Volume 51, Number 4 After more than half a century of...
May - June 2023, Volume 51, Number 3 In May, Powder River joined with Western...
At the end of March, PacifiCorp (which does business as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming)...
January - February 2023, Volume 51, Number 1 A Jan. 31 Bloomberg article by journalist...
November - December 2022, Volume 50, Number 6 After two years of online annual meetings,...
September - October 2022, Volume 50, Number 5 Powder River turns a half century old...
July - August 2022, Volume 50, Number 4 Despite temperatures topping 100 degrees, over 60...
May - June 2022, Volume 50, Number 3 On June 13, energy experts from Crossborder...
March - April 2022, Volume 50, Number 2 Wyoming’s Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy is the...
January - February 2022, Volume 50, Number 1 Powder River, in partnership with researchers at...
November-December 2021, Volume 49, Number 6 For the second year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,...
September - October 2021, Volume 49, Number 5 On Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5 -...
July - August 2021, Volume 49, Number 4 Powder River is excited to announce the...
May - June 2021, Volume 49, Number 3 Regenerative agriculture, a management system for ranchers...
March - April 2021, Volume 49, Number 2 Wyoming’s dependence on coal means that the...
January - February 2021, Volume 49, Number 1 In an effort to demonstrate widespread concern...
November - December 2020, Volume 48, Number 6 In November, over 125 Wyoming citizens filed...
September - October 2020, Volume 48, Number 5 They’re baaccck! That’s right, Aethon Energy is...
July - August 2020, Volume 48, Number 4 In the summer of 2019, Governor Gordon,...
May - June 2020, Volume 48, Number 3 In June, Powder River kicked off a...
March - April 2020, Volume 48, Number 2 Powder River and many Sheridan County landowners...
January - February 2020, Volume 48, Number 1 Late last year, the Wyoming Department of...
November - December 2019, Volume 47, Number 6 On the evening of Nov. 2, nearly...
September - October 2019, Volume 47, Number 5 On Saturday, Nov. 2, Powder River will...
July - August 2019, Volume 47, Number 4 Early in the morning on July 1,...
Powder River Breaks May - June 2019 Volume 47, Number 3 Last month, after a...
March - April 2019, Volume 47, Number 2 Aethon Energy, the company that operates the...
January - February 2019, Volume 47, Number 1 By a unanimous vote on February 19th,...
November - December 2018, Volume 46, Number 6 On November 3rd, over 100 Powder River...
September - October 2018, Volume 46, Number 5 Award-winning conservation photographer and author Michael Forsberg...
July - August 2018, Volume 46, Number 4 In July, Powder River released a new...
May - June 2018, Volume 46, Number 3 So far, 2018 has been a great...
March - April 2018, Volume 46, Number 2 On March 23rd, Judge Brian Morris from...
January - February 2018 Volume 46, Number 1 Powder River members, affiliate Cheyenne Area Landowners...
September – October 2017 Volume 45, Number 5 Powder River Pushes for Federal Oil &...
November – December 2017 Volume 45, Number 6 45th Annual Meeting Highlights Diversifying Wyoming Jobs &...
