With the change in pressure on the coal industry, environmental groups have pivoted their advocacy as well, focusing in more recent years on the economics of coal-fired power, which is rapidly being outpaced by other options.

Rocky Mountain Power has been pressured by environmental groups to say publicly that its coal fleet was often more expensive than wind or purchasing power on the open market.

The company did admit that in part through an economics of coal study in December, but noted that the reliability of the company’s energy system also had to be considered given that coal plants provide large amounts of baseline power for the company’s customers from Wyoming to Washington.

The presentation that shook Gordon and encouraged environmental groups confirmed that reliability would not be greatly affected and money would be saved.

PacifiCorp’s calculations are not unique in the power sector, as many plants have announced retirements in recent years due to the price savings of pivoting to other energy sources.

Those closures have wreaked havoc on Wyoming’s coal sector and clouded the outlook for the industry — which provides a tremendous amount of the state’s funding every year.