Acting Director Scott Quillenin told the Joint Appropriations Committee that the University of Wyoming’s School of Energy Resources (SER) is seeking exception funding to complete a nearly finished coal pyrolysis demonstration unit in Gillette and to restore state matching capacity for research.

Quillenin said SER’s standard appropriation is “just over 21,000,000” and requested two exceptions totaling $12,090,000: $2,090,000 to cover inflationary cost increases on the coal pyrolysis demonstration unit and $10,000,000 in state matching funds to help SER be competitive for federal and non‑state research dollars. “This exception request is 2,090,000.00 to cover those inflationary costs to allow us to finish the project as designed,” he said during the presentation.

Trina, SER’s subject‑matter expert on the project, clarified the process and products: “It’s actually a pyrolysis process. … our primary product is the char,” she said, adding that char has potential high‑volume uses such as building materials and soil amendment and that the unit also produces higher‑value products such as graphite.

Quillenin described the project as well along: the pyrolysis unit is “about 75% constructed” and the $2.09 million would cover inflationary increases for contracted services, capital equipment and specialized construction so the team can bring the facility fully online. A committee member urged that if approved the funding be made effective immediately to avoid demobilization costs.

On the $10 million match, Quillenin said the funds would be used two ways: to match philanthropic gifts and to provide constrained research matching that must be paired 1:1 with non‑state cash (no in‑kind match). He said such matches are limited to activities supporting the production and consumption of Wyoming coal, oil, natural gas, rare earth elements and critical minerals and must be approved by both the Energy Resources Council and the Legislative Management Council.

Quillenin and former SER director Holly Krekka detailed SER’s recent leverage and outcomes: using about $14.5 million in matching funds from the Wyoming Energy Authority, SER helped bring roughly $80 million in external investment to Wyoming projects, including three deep characterization wells and reservoir work tied to a planned Sweetwater carbon storage hub. Krekka noted the governing statute and the Energy Resources Council’s oversight as checks on the use of matching funds.

The committee asked technical and commercialization questions about a rare‑earth extraction pilot from Powder River Basin coal ash (a NETL‑funded project that included $250,000 of SER cost share and local county cost share). Quillenin said the pilot completed an 18‑month phase last March and that initial feasibility work suggests Powder River Basin fly ash is more digestible (less acid required) than other fly ash, but that additional research is needed to determine commercial viability.

Committee members asked for the pilot report and economic feasibility documents; Representative Harrelson requested that the rare‑earth‑from‑ash report be circulated to the committee in the next weeks.

Next steps: the committee continued questioning after the presentation and moved to the University of Wyoming’s larger budget presentation. The SER requests remain before the Joint Appropriations Committee for consideration.