Rob Krieger, executive director of the Wyoming Energy Authority, told the Joint Appropriations Committee that WEA has invested $141,000,000 from the state's energy matching funds and leveraged $430,000,000 in federal and private money on 27 projects across Wyoming.

Krieger said a third‑party economic analysis by Deloitte focused on the next decade and concluded the portfolio of investments is anticipated to increase the state's gross product by about $1,200,000,000 over 10 years. "We limited it to within the next decade," Krieger told the committee, describing the Deloitte review and its ROI timeframe.

The matching fund program began in 2022 with an original $100,000,000 appropriation. Krieger said earmarks removed portions of that pot ($8,000,000 to the University of Wyoming School of Energy Resources for a coal pyrolysis project and $10,000,000 for public infrastructure to support commercial energy development), and the legislature later added $55,000,000, bringing the total available to $155,000,000. To date, Krieger said, WEA has started 27 projects and invested $141,000,000 of that $155,000,000 and requires a strict 1:1 match from project applicants.

"I'm very proud that of the $141,000,000 that we've invested, we've actually leveraged $430,000,000 on top of that," Krieger told the committee. He also said the program paused to obtain a third‑party economic analysis and limited projections to a 10‑year horizon so the committee would have actionable near‑term figures.

Krieger reported $13,300,000 remains in the matching fund and that current requests in the review round total $22,300,000. When committee members asked who had produced the ROI study, Krieger confirmed Deloitte Consulting conducted the analysis this past summer and that the $1.2 billion figure in discussion came from that report.

Committee members pressed on competitiveness and whether Wyoming could attract projects without large state incentives. Krieger said other states (he cited Texas and Tennessee) have larger funds but emphasized that Wyoming's advantage includes resource availability and the state's willingness to partner with project sponsors.

The presentation did not include any formal committee votes on the fund during this hearing. Krieger said WEA makes recommendations to a review committee and to the governor and that the committee may face rounds in which total asks exceed remaining balances.

Next steps: WEA is in an active review period for the current round of applications and will provide the Deloitte report and additional project details to committee staff on request. The committee also discussed whether the governor will seek additional matching funds; Krieger said he was not aware of a pending request at the time of testimony.

Sources: Testimony of Rob Krieger, executive director, Wyoming Energy Authority.