News February 2022

Utility Dive interviewed Charles Mason, the H.A. “Dave” True Jr. Chair in Petroleum and Natural Gas Economics at UW, for an article noting that the U.S. Department of Energy will spend $6 billion on a program designed to keep nuclear power plants from closing. Mason said the high operating and maintenance costs of running reactors can make them uneconomical in some markets.  Published February 16, 2022.

 

MSN reprinted a Roll Call article in which UW economist Anne Alexander was quoted. Alexander said about 50 cryptocurrency firms have relocated to Wyoming to take advantage of the crypto laws. Many of those companies have just incorporated in the state, not moved their actual headquarters.  Published February 15, 2022.

 

UW business Professor Emeritus Sherrill Shaffer spoke with WalletHub for a column that offered professional decision-making advice on debt consolidation loans.  No date.

 

The Casper Star-Tribune (CS-T) published an article last week focusing on how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine would affect energy prices worldwide. UW economist Rob Godby said U.S. oil and gas prices are already rising, but the question is how producers -- who have been more cautious since COVID-19 lockdowns caused demand to crater -- will respond.  February 23, 2022.

 

UW economist Charles Mason was interviewed about the conflict in Ukraine for a related Oil City News article, and Godby also commented in another CS-T article about rising gasoline prices.  Published February 24 and 25, 2022 respectively.

 

A reroute of a portion of I-80 could impact commerce from $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion a year, UW economist Anne Alexander said in an interview with The Laramie Boomerang. The Wyoming Department of Transportation has made an informal proposal to the federal government to consider a reroute of the interstate to cut down on winter closures.  Published February 27, 2022.

 

The Laramie Boomerang reported that a survey by UW economists indicates that the Pilot Hill Project has the potential to generate more than $5 million a year in economic activity and support 150 jobs. UW owns 1,233 acres of the nearly 7,000 acres that make up the Pilot Hill parcel.  Published on February 23, 2022.