Wyoming Electricity Rates

Wyoming produces roughly 40% of all coal mined in the United States. The Powder River Basin near Gillette holds billions of tons of low-sulfur sub-bituminous coal. Massive surface mines—some of the largest excavations humans have ever dug—feed a fleet of coal plants and a rail network that ships fuel to every corner of the country. Coal severance taxes have underwritten Wyoming’s government for generations: the state has no personal income tax and no corporate income tax, leaning heavily on mineral revenue.

But the boom has a long shadow. Coal production peaked around 2008 and has fallen by on the order of ~40% as utilities nationwide retire coal plants. For Wyoming, that is not an abstract climate debate; it is an existential economic threat. Jobs, county budgets, and the state’s identity are braided to the mines and the plants that burn what they dig. When baseload coal closes elsewhere, PRB tonnage falls—and Gillette and Campbell County feel it first.

Electricity here stays comparatively cheap because ~70% of generation still comes from coal, supplemented by wind (~20%), natural gas (~7%), hydro (~2%), and solar (~1%). That mix keeps rates low today while the state wrestles with tomorrow. Compare dynamics with Montana (shared MDU and wind-coal tension) or Colorado (Front Range load and renewable standards).

Rocky Mountain Power (PacifiCorp, Berkshire Hathaway) is the dominant investor-owned utility and serves most of Wyoming. Black Hills Energy operates gas and electric franchises in portions of the state; Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power is a Black Hills subsidiary serving Wyoming’s capital. Montana-Dakota Utilities (MDU) reaches northeast Wyoming. Lower Valley Energy serves Jackson Hole and the Tetons—one of the wealthiest corners of rural America, a striking contrast with coal-country Gillette. Service territories are exclusive; you cannot shop for a competing wires company. Rates below align with state-level averages; your effective ¢/kWh depends on schedule, riders, and season.

Wyoming has Class 7 wind (the top rating) across vast areas. The Wyoming–Colorado border region is often cited as among the windiest inhabited stretches in the United States. In theory, Wyoming could be the “Saudi Arabia of wind.” In practice, the politics are knotted: the state once imposed a tax on wind generation—one of only a few states to do so—in part to protect coal-linked revenues. Wind has grown anyway because economics and corporate procurement demand it.

TransWest Express is a proposed ~730-mile HVDC line to move Wyoming wind power toward California and the Southwest. It is among the most ambitious transmission projects in the U.S. and has been in planning for more than a decade. If built, it could unlock enormous new wind buildout; until then, congestion and siting remain constraints. The Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project aims for up to ~3,000 MW if fully developed—potentially one of the largest wind complexes on Earth.

The tension between coal identity and a wind future is the defining story of Wyoming energy: severance taxes versus new tax base; ranchland versus turbine rows; export markets for electrons versus coal by rail. For a cross-border view of wind policy, read Colorado’s electricity page.

The PRB is not a single pit; it is a constellation of strip mines spread across Campbell County and adjacent areas. North Antelope Rochelle has produced on the order of ~90 million tons per year at peak; Black Thunder ranks among the largest by reserve and output. BNSF and Union Pacific haul unit trains of PRB coal to Midwestern and eastern plants—few energy systems anywhere move so much solid fuel by rail.

As U.S. coal demand falls, PRB mines close and consolidate. Peabody Energy and Arch Resources (and successor entities after restructuring) remain major operators; bankruptcies and mergers have reshaped the field. For Gillette and Campbell County, coal is not one industry among many—it is the economy. Schools, hospitals, and youth sports leagues ride the tax base. When mines idle, the shock hits Main Street before it hits Wall Street.

Wyoming coal is also a geopolitical asset in domestic energy security debates: low-sulfur PRB coal helped utilities meet air rules for decades. But climate policy and cheap gas changed dispatch. Wyoming’s electricity rates stayed low while the world shifted; the PRB is where the physical fuel and the social cost collide.

No. Wyoming is a traditionally regulated state. The Wyoming Public Service Commission sets rates for investor-owned electric utilities; customers generally cannot choose a competing retail electricity supplier. With some of the cheapest rates in the nation—subsidized in part by legacy coal and sparse population—there has been little appetite for Texas-style retail choice.

Wyoming is politically among the most conservative states, yet utility regulation is broadly accepted as a bargain: reliable service, transparent fuel clauses, and PSC oversight. Do not expect a supplier shopping portal tomorrow. For contrast, see Texas or Ohio.

Commercial rates average about 10.50¢/kWh—among the lowest in the country thanks to coal-backed baseload and industrial-scale wind. Major sectors include mining, oil and gas, trona, tourism, agriculture, and an emerging data center narrative tied to wind and land.

Without retail choice, savings come from using less, using smarter, and tapping utility programs including green rates where available.