When the Pandemic Gutted Oil Revenues, Wind Power Rescued Wyoming's Capital City

[turbinetree]

ENVIRONMENT
10 HOURS AGO
It’s “the goose that’s laying the golden egg.”
JANE C. HU

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Robin Lockman feared the worst for her town of Cheyenne, Wyoming. As the city’s treasurer, she estimated that it might lose up to 25 percent of its budget as tax revenues stalled and the prices of oil, gas and coal tanked, eliminating money the city typically receives from the state as royalties from the extractive energy industry.

So the city did the hard work of laying off 18 employees and cutting funds for travel and training. And then a surprising thing happened: The huge deficit never arrived. In fact, over the summer, the city brought in more tax revenue than the year before.

Between July and September, Cheyenne saw a 20.5 percent increase in tax revenue compared to 2019. In September alone, the increase was a staggering 83 percent, or $1.4 million. “I was in shock when I saw it,” said Lockman. She feared the good news was a mistake, so she called the Wyoming Department of Revenue to confirm the numbers. “The tax reported was legitimate, and was due to the Roundhouse Wind Project,” said Lockman, referring to an energy development west of the city.

Throughout Wyoming, counties typically depend on industries like coal, oil and gas drilling, mining or tourism and recreation to bring in the taxes necessary to pay for education, community programs and infrastructure. Overall economic activity is down—statewide, sales and use taxes shrunk 6 percent over the last year—but revenues from mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction are down nearly twice that. Meanwhile, profits from wind energy developments, like the Roundhouse Wind Project, are booming. Now, residents and officials are asking whether wind energy can help the state survive the economic storm of the pandemic—and become a reliable revenue stream for the future as fossil fuel income dries up.

https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/01/when-the-pandemic-gutted-oil-revenues-wind-power-rescued-wyomings-capital-city/

I lived in Wyoming for over 20 years and the average amount per year that the wind blows in the state :

http://www.wrds.uwyo.edu/sco/climateatlas/wind.html#:~:text=11.1%20General%20Description,wind%20speed%20of%2012.9%20mph).

[gratuitous]

1. Uh oh

What if the people of Wyoming figure out the enviro-whackos were right all along? They'll have to strip mine the whole state just to pwn the libs.

[turbinetree]

4. They will come around, but I am not holding my breath

the animals have more common sense, they really do...........

[Hermit-The-Prog]

2. I like the Wyoming Wind Sock at your 2nd link. :)

[turbinetree]

3. Wado................thank you

amazing what the wind can do when you live in Wyoming and have that sock...............nice catch....

[denbot]

5. Every trucker out there dreads Wyoming blowing snow..

I avoid it as much as possible.

[turbinetree]

6. It really is nasty to say the least, I use to work out there and I thought Int Falls was cold

not until I went to Wyoming..............it is just plain cold in the winter