(Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)Ī CCUS retrofit of one or more coal units at the Dave Johnston plant “would effectively mean rebuilding them” and risking operational difficulties, Godby said. Crews set up a workover rig June 3, 2022, in the Salt Creek oil field where CO2 from ExxonMobil’s Shute Creek facility was injected for enhanced oil recovery. PacifiCorp, which owns and operates the plant, plans to decommission all four units in 2027, replacing the power with wind and solar energy, according the utility’s most recent plan. The Dave Johnston plant was built in 1959 with coal-burning units added through 1972. Plus, the coal units at Dave Johnston, for example, are more than 50 years old. But CO2 and oil are subject to volatile commodity markets, and there’s no way to forecast the added value of enhanced oil recovery over a long period of time. Injecting CO2 to produce oil could produce revenue that helps cover the expense of a carbon capture retrofit, Godby said. “So far it has not been shown to be commercially viable on a coal-fired power plant.” “CCUS is far from a developed process,” Godby said. Though carbon capture technologies are advancing, retrofitting old coal-burning units to scrub CO2 from the smokestack hasn’t proven successful - even when adding the value of using the CO2 for enhanced oil recovery, according to University of Wyoming energy economist Rob Godby. Employee vehicles fill a parking lot at Belle Ayr mine in August 2016. Some utility industry analysts have panned both Glenrock Energy’s claims regarding feasibility of CCUS retrofits at the Dave Johnston power plant, and a 2020 CCUS study commissioned by the state of Wyoming and the U.S.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER CASPER WY FREE
“Particularly in a state that prides itself in appreciating free markets and capitalism.” Benefits and risks “Trying to prop up a dying industry doesn’t make sense,” Provenza said. Provenza said the state could make better use of its time and resources trying to attract new businesses and ensuring there are replacement jobs for those lost in the coal industry. Black Hills Energy says it will ask to impose a carbon capture compliance surcharge to generate an estimated $3.4 million annually.
That will cost the utility’s ratepayers an extra $2 million this year alone. PacifiCorp, which operates as Rocky Mountain Power in Wyoming, was granted a request to add a 0.3% “carbon capture compliance” surcharge to its Wyoming customers’ bills to cover compliance costs. Provenza said she brought the bill because she was alarmed at the cost estimates for adding CCUS, and the fact that ratepayers are already getting hit with price hikes to cover the costs of complying with Wyoming’s legislative mandates. The bill met a quick death when it failed introduction on the House floor. She introduced House Bill 193 – Carbon capture energy standards-repeal to spike Wyoming’s existing CCUS mandates. Lawmakers have already gone too far in forcing utilities into coal carbon capture retrofits, Rep. Having cleared the Senate, the bill is now being considered by the House - first stop the House Appropriations Committee, where the bill is expected to be considered on Wednesday. Charles Scott (R-Casper) looks through documents at his desk in the Senate in 2020. Retrofitting a single coal-burning power unit would come at a cost of $400 million to $1 billion, according to one estimate. That kind of revenue should cover the cost of retrofitting coal power units, Scott said, while also preserving jobs by extending the life of coal-fired power plants. “That figure gets my attention,” Scott told members of the Senate Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee in January. Glenrock Energy’s Big Muddy oilfield would generate an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue over 20 years if it had access to CO2 from the nearby Dave Johnston coal-fired power plant, according to the company’s own analysis Scott said. The bill would ensure that CO2 captured at a coal smokestack is put to economic use, Scott said, giving priority to injecting the greenhouse gas into oilfields to boost oil production. Charles Scott (R-Casper), comes at the request of Glenrock Energy, a Wyoming oilfield operator, he said.
Senate File – 142 Carbon capture and sequestration would build on existing requirements that utilities looking to retire a coal unit first try to extend its life by adding expensive carbon capture, utilization and sequestration technologies, and possibly passing the cost onto customers. The Wyoming Legislature may double down on mandates designed to keep coal-fired power plants running, and fossil fuel revenues flowing, despite the high costs of existing directives and electric utility industry concerns.
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