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Last week, amid constant reports about Gov. Matt Mead and Wyoming lawmakers having to cut the state budget because of the low price of natural gas, utility bills arrived from Lower Valley Energy. While using about the same amount of energy as last winter, I seemed to be paying slightly more for gas, which struck me as a disconnect.

Well, Lower Valley has caught up to the market changes. The cooperative has reduced its rate for natural gas by 12.9 percent, to $1.13 per therm, effective Feb. 1. LVE informs of the change in a letter residents should be receiving this week, spokesman Brian Tanabe said.

So, after a late cold spell pushed nighttime temperatures below -10 last week and sent heating bills rising, residents will get some relief.

The new rate still doesn’t match the nearly 70 percent drop in gas prices over the last four years, but pricing is complex, Lower Valley has to lock in advance supply contracts, and someone (not LVE, as a member-owned cooperative) has to make a gazillion dollars at our expense.

(Photo by David Stubbs)

Posted under Economy, Environment, Politics, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: conservation, lower valley energy, oil and gas

One of the changes Willie Neal envisioned finally is going into effect.

Last week, Neal’s family and supporters put up the first few of 300 idle-free signs that will be installed around town in coming months.

The signs discourage motorists from leaving their engines running while parked, as per town resolution 10-19. The notices are part of a larger educational campaign that seeks to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions and improve air quality by reducing unnecessary idling.

The Willie Neal Environmental Awareness Fund, a nonprofit set up in memory of the late Nordic skiing standout and activist, raised $7,500 to pay for the signs and associated materials. The fund has been working with the Yellowstone-Teton Clean Energy Coalition and Town of Jackson.

“The end goal is changing the culture in which we live,” said Neal’s mother, Mary, who has worked tirelessly on the campaign.

The signs will be erected on public property. Business owners who wish to have them installed for free on their property can contact info@ytcleanenergy.org.

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Posted under Economy, Environment, Politics, Town Government

Tags: conservation, mark barron, oil and gas, willie neal

Gasland, the incendiary documentary by filmmaker Josh Fox, will screen at Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. Thursday. Citizens for the Wyoming Range is sponsoring the free showing.

Afterward, a panel discussion will include two people featured in the film: Wes Wilson, a retired EPA environmental engineer, and John Fenton, a Pavillion, Wyo., rancher who has been affected by drilling. Also participating are retired BLM resource specialist Tom Curry and state Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson.

Given the strong opinions the Oscar-nominated film has generated and the impact of natural gas on Wyoming’s economy, the discussion ought to be lively. Whether industry reps turn out to counter their critics remains to be seen.

Then again, a Wyoming coal executive threw a hissy-fit at the recent installation of a sculpture by a British artist at the University of Wyoming. The work was designed to get people to think about the connection between fossil fuel and beetle kills spurred by a warming climate. Rather than engage the artist or start a dialogue, Big Coal whined and threatened to withhold funding from UW.

The screening comes as the Bridger-Teton National Forest is considering a proposal by Plains Exploration and Production to drill up to 136 wells in the headwaters of the Hoback River near Bondurant. The company plans to use the controversial drilling technique fracking, which can contaminate groundwater.

To view the trailer for the film, click here.

Posted under Economy, Environment, Politics, Sports, Wyoming, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: conservation, films, national forest, oil and gas, river running, snake river

Today is the day to speak up to preserve our future air and water quality.

The Bridger-Teton National Forest will accept comments until 5 p.m. on a proposal for natural gas drilling in Noble Basin, in the headwaters of the Hoback River near Bondurant.

Already three times this month — March 1, 2 and 5, according to AP reports — ozone pollution from the nearby Jonah and Pinedale Anticline gas fields was more poisonous than standing above the freeway in Los Angeles on that city’s worst smog day of the year.

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Posted under Economy, Environment, Politics, Wyoming

Tags: conservation, hunting, national forest, oil and gas, wilderness, wildlife

Not all the news coming out of Cheyenne this legislative session is depressing.

Rep. Jim Roscoe, D-Wilson, succeeded last week in getting the House to approve his bill that would construct a natural gas filling station for vehicles along Interstate 80 and require the Wyoming Department of Transportation to retrofit its fleet to operate on natural gas. Other agencies of state government also could use the facility.

House Bill 235 passed final reading on a 33-26 vote and awaits debate in the Senate, where the Transportation and Highways Committee first will take up the measure.

“I’m a firm believer in natural gas as a transportation fuel,” says Roscoe, whose district encompasses gas fields in Sublette County. “It’s a whole lot cleaner, a whole lot better for the air.”

Implementing the bill would cost about $1 million initially, but that investment would be recouped in about five years because of reduced fuel costs, Roscoe says. The measure also would expand the market for Wyoming’s natural gas.

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Posted under Democratic Party, Economy, Environment, Politics, Republican Party, Wyoming Legislature

Tags: jim roscoe, keith gingery, leland christensen, oil and gas, ruth ann petroff