Wyoming Rebates and Incentives Summary
Though Wyoming is a northwestern state, it is still firmly in the United States’ solar belt. And it has a bonanza of energy opportunities, with rich wind—including the most superb inland wind resources in the United States, which are in a small, southeastern pocket of the state, and better than average solar and geothermal resources. And while the state gets, on average, more than 5 kilowatt hours (kWh) of sunlight per square meter per day, the state also is rich in fossil fuels, particularly coal and natural gas. The state offers some incentives to residents and businesses to help them convert to solar and other renewables.
The state—despite being the 10th largest—is also the nation’s least populated with roughly 500,000 people as of 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration. That’s less than the 600,000 people who live in Washington, D.C.—even though you could fit more than 1,500 Washington, D.C.’s within Wyoming’s borders. However, the state lacks some of the commitments to renewable energy that its neighboring states have made.
In recent years, as oil producers become more desperate for domestic oil sources, they are looking increasingly to oil shale deposits in states like Wyoming to produce new sources of oil in the United States. Wyoming also is the top producer of coal in the nation, surpassing the other coal giant, West Virginia. The coal is easy to mine, since it is found in surface-based deposits and is low in sulphur, making it attractive to coal-fired power plants that want to keep their emissions low. Given its large fossil fuel resources, it’s no surprise that the majority of electricity produced in Wyoming now comes from coal-fired plants. But the amount of wind power produced in the state continues to increase.
Both Wyoming’s northern and southern neighbors, Colorado and Montana, have established renewable portfolio standards, while Wyoming has not established an RPS as of September 2010. Other states bordering this cowboy state, including Utah and South Dakota, have established renewable energy goals.
Despite the exploitation of fossil fuels in Wyoming and the lack of an RPS, Wyoming does offer some incentives to help its residents and businesses adopt renewables for their energy needs. But with harsh winters, the state is offering more incentives geared to help residents invest in energy-efficiency projects, like improving insulation, to help cut back energy costs in the winters. The state offers residents rebates, zero-interest rate loans, and a net metering program to make the conversion to renewable electricity easier for residents.
