November 30, 2023 |
Photo – Black Butte Coal Mine – Courtesy Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce
Sweetwater County has been hit by another attack from Washington. First the Bureau of Land Management called for limiting access to public lands, a fight that is ongoing. On Sunday, 19 workers at Black Butte Coal Company lost their jobs because of lowered demand for the company’s coal because of political pressures in Washington.
The mine supports the Jim Bridger Power Plant, owned by PacifiCorp, which has been moving from coal to wind for electrical generation.
In a statement Wednesday, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon called the layoffs “disheartening and disappointing,” especially because of the timing ahead of the holiday season.
The governor pinpointed the lost jobs on the Biden Administration., “This layoff is directly linked to the Biden Administration’s refusal to approve the mine expansion application, which has been languishing” for years before federal agencies, including the Department of the Interior.
The governor noted that the mine has gone through rounds of environmental reviews, but the Democratic administration has “continued to throw up additional paper obstacles.”
The governor also noted that Rocky Mountain Power is seeking a hefty rate increase on Wyoming customers, including here in Carbon County, because of the increased price of coal.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis said in a statement, “Seeing good people lose their jobs is tragic but what makes this situation particularly painful is the fact that it is a direct result of the Biden administration’s war on domestic energy production, and coal in particular. America needs coal, as evidenced by the fact it is the 3rd-largest energy source for the country’s grid, and Wyoming needs coal miners.”
The layoffs at Black Butte Coal are the latest economic impacts caused by Washington’s opposition to coal for heating homes affordably. PacifiCorp closed the Jim Bridger underground mine in 2021, which was a mine opened near the Jim Bridger surface mine and provided a supplementary supply of coal for the power plant. RMP continues to move towards renewable energy sources as it invests in wind and solar generation, as well as the proposed Natrium reactor project in Kemmerer.
The state also stands to lose mineral royalty fees because of the closure.
