A special week for the Energy Journal podcast, episode 10 features a class of energy and policy students from the University of Michigan digging in on state issues. From why Wyomingites don't jump up and down for wind to whether President Donald Trump can indeed bring back coal jobs, the students covered some of the most pressing topics in Wyoming energy today. 

(Music credits: Sundown by Josh Woodward and Lover by David Mumford.) 

The Vivion family has been ranching in Wyoming for a century. Now the three Vivion sisters run a cattle operation on their property near Sinclair, and they say Rocky Mountain Power's plan to build a transmission line, part of a coming wind buildout in Wyoming, risks a water well in their pasture. Just up the road, the Power Company of Wyoming has begun construction on what could be the largest onshore wind development in the country when done. 

A wind boom is coming to Wyoming, though it's mostly located in a wind alley from central Wyoming down southwest. And the reality is the state isn't of one mind about new wind. There's people like the Vivion sisters who see it impacting them in a very personal way and folks like Bill Miller, President of the Power Company of Wyoming, who have a vision that is part of tripling Wyoming's current wind capacity. 

The interviews in this podcast were edited to drown out the wind and the truck engines, in two drives near Rawlins. 

(Music credits: Sundown by Josh Woodward and Infinity by the Midnight Sons.) 

In a world where coal fired power plants are on the decline, the mayor of a small Wyoming town hopes the Dave Johnston power plant can serve a dual purpose and keep a town’s major employer burning. 

(Music credits: Sundown by Josh Woodward and Infinity by the Midnight Sons.)