Utilities urge focus on building transmission and capacity, not workarounds

Representatives for Wyoming’s investor‑owned and cooperative utilities told the committee that the core problem for bringing new large loads online is infrastructure—not only who sells electricity.

Tom Kearns, vice president of government affairs at Rocky Mountain Power, said changing the retail market does not solve the need for transmission, substations and generation capacity. "Infrastructure constraints are not solved by changing who sells electricity. They are solved by building infrastructure," Kearns said, summarizing the company's grid‑modernization proposal to allow strategic pre‑investment.

Black Hills Energy described its blockchain interruptible service tariff and large‑power contract service as tools to protect existing customers while enabling new loads, stressing that new customers typically should pay for upgrades they require. Tri‑State highlighted its HILT tariff—approved by FERC—to process large requests and said thousands of megawatts of proposals are pending evaluation; Basin Electric and co‑ops pressed for clarity on who bears study costs and for protections of service territories.

Utilities asked the committee to coordinate statutory changes with commission rulemaking and to preserve mechanisms that prevent cost shifting to residential ratepayers.