Carbon County Industry Roundtable June 16, 2014

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Carbon County Industrial Roundtable Notes

June 16, 2014, Jeffrey Center, Rawlins, WY

Introductions and Welcome- Cindy Wallace, Carbon County Economic Development Corporation

Executive Director.

Dan Vink introduced Roundtable steering committee.

Overview of Agenda- Mickey Beaver, Rocky Mountain Power

Updates:

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation- Dennis Ellis

Largest landowner (4.2 million acres) and taxpayer in Wyoming (approximately $1M royalties and taxes per day)

700 employees and 1,000 contractors.

As Coal Bed Methane continues to decline, oil will begin to increase, particularly in the Powder River

Basin

Salt Creek and Monell are two of the world’s largest CO2 reinjection projects

BP-Tom Robinson

7 th largest natural gas producers in Wyoming, 11 th largest liquids producer

200 employees and 800 contractors

Wamsutter is one of BPs largest global portfolios in terms of proven reserves, and is the largest contiguous block of BP operated acreage in US Onshore

73 trillion cubic feet of gas in reserve

Continental Divide/Creston EIS 2014 covers 1.1 M acres 9,000 proposed wells with 500-900 of the proposed wells for coal bed methane, with a 20 year life expectancy

12.02 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 167 M barrels of liquid condensate

2,500 new direct jobs

Sinclair- Charles Schaub, operations, planning and strategy manager

Strong markets, such as jet fuels, Fed Ex fuel contract and new connection to Las Vegas for motor fuels

Pipelines are currently at capacity

80,600 continuous rate of production

Currently in a turn-around that is 40 days long, in second week. One thousand plus workers on that project

520 current Sinclair employees

Working with WWCC to upgrade operator skills with both Rock Springs and Rawlins Higher Ed Center

2M hours and two years of safe operations-non reportable issues with OSHA

Samson Resources- Tom Clayson

Began working in Wyoming in 2009. Field offices in Casper and Rawlins. 20 employees in Rawlins and 20 employees in Casper.

Endurance and Barricade units are west of Baggs east of Adobe Town WSA, Desolation Road is north of

Adobe Town WSA

Two rigs working in Endurance and Barricade this year- but limited by no year round drilling

Desolution Road is currently under exploration

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DKRW- Bob Kelly

Issues:

Under review with Industrial Siting Commission, December, 2013 meeting requires new socio-economic impact due in 30 months with construction to begin in 39 months, assuming Industrial Siting approves new construction schedule.

Financing (in excess of $1B). They are still looking at revived Dept. of Energy loan guarantee.

Denbury will buy the CO2. 87 octane regular gas delivered to Denver via pipeline and purchased by

Vitol.

Engineering- recently terminated contract with Sinopec- looking at new contracts with other engineering contractors. Benefit to Wyoming given recent EPA decision on coal fired power plants.

Questions:

Discussed the issue of waste water and waste water operations

Timing on the EIS of the Creston/Continental Divide this fall

Power Company of Wyoming /TransWest Express

Cindy Wallace gave handouts out on summary of the Chokecherry/Sierra Madre Wind Project and the

TransWest Express transmission line that was prepared by Kara Choquette who could not attend.

The BLM is now reviewing site-specific plans of development for the project components in

Environmental Assessments. The first EA covers development of internal haul road, an on-site rail facility for delivering turbines and components and an onsite quarry.

The second EA covers PCW’s phase 1 wind development consisting of 500 turbines. BLM anticipates finalizing both EAs by end of 2014.

The application for a permit from the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council is available on their website at http://deq.state.wy.us/isd/isdnews.htm

. Workforce numbers, workforce housing and housing plans, number of permanent jobs and estimated tax benefits in document.

89 month construction schedule

TransWest Express Transmission project- DC electric transmission system route is 725 miles. Northern terminal sited south of Sinclair on the Overland Trail Cattle Company ranch, southern terminal located near Hoover Dam in Nevada.

Final EIS document anticipated to be published September 2014.

Rocky Mountain Power-Gateway West/South

Dan Vink—new substation by Hanna, expanded three others in the area

Two reliability projects in Rawlins, two main feeders into Rawlins will be inspected and upgraded

Mickey Beaver- transmission

Gateway West- BLM Boise RAC still working on recommendations for routing solution- concerning bird mitigation final ROD late 2015

Gateway South- comment period is over for EIS, final EIS should be published early 2015

Estimated 2020-2022 for energizing of power transmission lines

BLM- Annette Treat

Administers 17.5 M acres in Wyoming

BLM administers 3.5 M acres of surface 4.5M acres of federal minerals in Rawlins area

Gave updates and contacts for various projects

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(Sand hills wind farm project plans have been withdrawn)

Source Gas- Norm Long, Manager of Community and Public Relations

Retail gas company serving four states- Wyoming, Colorado, Arkansas and Nebraska

Owned by GE Energy Financial Services and Alinda (50/50)

Serves 80,000 customers in Wyoming with plans to add 1,300 new meters in Wyoming in 2014

Proposed Chokecherry compression station at Walcott Junction- filed with Public Service Commission last year and it was approved March 2013. Will provide open access to current storage fields for gas storage

Currently storage and transmission rates are bundled and with this filing, the rates will be decoupled.

The project will improve reliability to Casper system which includes Rawlins and is consistent with

Governor’s Energy Plan

Chokecherry Interconnect and Compressor station projected in service June 2015

Ur Energy- Steve Hatten

Currently in operation at Lost Creek- started in August 2013

Uranium production company via in situ recovery process

Bought Pathfinder-Shirley Basin Mine operation and Lucky Mac operation last year and hope to have it in production in a few years

56 employees at Lost Creek site, with 29 from Rawlins area

Demand- 70 new nuclear reactors under construction in 13 countries, with 434 operable reactors worldwide currently

In 2012 world nuclear industry consumption was approx 180 M lbs and productions were only 153 m lbs

US domestic productions is 4m lbs of uranium/year and consumption was 55 M lbs per year

UR Energy sells in long term market at $50-$51 per lbs with spot market at $28 per lb

Revenues from operation Dec. 2013 is $5.7 M with 2014 1 st quarter at $6.7M

Estimates 9.2 M pounds recoverable at Lost Creek

Pathfinder- closed on sale in Dec 2013, with Shirley Basin project as Ur-Energy’s next production center

Approx 10 M lbs of resource with 5M lbs at Lucky Mac

Pathfinder has an ISR by product disposal facility that is fully licensed for operation

Questions:

If the Source Gas compression station is built at Walcott, the workforce will be about 20-30 during construction

They have formed a statewide committee to look at the potential to take natural gas to smaller communities following the failure of Senate File 114

Looking at:

Funding

 legislation countrywide as a model

 tariffs

 possible LNG for some communities

Carbon County Higher Education Update- Dave Throgmorton

Projected date of occupancy for new building is August 1, 2014

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Facility is designed to be a complete campus for the community which includes a connector road that ties the high school with new building. CCHEC runs the trades programs for the high school. This new facility will bring all of the trades together in one building that will be available 24 hours a day. They will also put together a weekend program for youth offenders.

Programs include: Instrumentation, manufacturing, health care (CNA to nursing), welding, construction trades, automotive, wood crafting, pre-engineering class for high school students, and safety training

Department of Workforce Services- Bill Schepler

Update on Workforce Development Training Fund: state funded program at $7.1M per biennium, with

$5.6M for workforce training grants. Can receive up to $2,000 per employee per year for workforce training needs

446 businesses used the training funds last year

Pre-hire training program allows for training of process technology potential employees to create a pool for industry

Current Carbon County unemployment rate is 3.7%. The local office can help with strategies to address workforce issues

Safety discounts for Workers Compensation rates are available through the DWS, including a grant to purchase safety training equipment

Lunch by the Wooden Spoon served at noon.

State of Wyoming Geological Survey- Tom Drean, Director and State Geologist

#1 State in Coal, uranium, trona, and bentonite

#2 in Helium

#5 in gas

#8 in Oil

Potential leader in rare earth elements

Wyoming is the second largest energy producer in the country, second to Texas

If you look at energy production minus the consumption- where it is exported out of state- Wyoming would be #1 (Providing more BTU’s then they consume)

Issues for Wyoming Coal

EPA power plant regulations and public perception

Competition with natural gas

Weather

The price of coal vs. the cost to mine coal

Ability to export to Asia Pacific Region

The decline in Wyoming coal production is market and regulatory driven, not resource limitation

Issues of Wyoming Gas

Regulation and approval times

New unconventional plays

Public opinion (i.e. fracking)

Distance to market

Price- short and long term

Quality of gas and liquid content

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Possibility of US exporting gas

Over 21,000 new gas wells could be drilled from 2015-2030 in already identified fields/plays

In addition, new unconventional plays could add to produced volumes and reserves

Market demand, supply, price and approval process will remain key factors

US dependency on energy imports continues to decline since unconventional plays began to develop

Shale gas production continues to grow, as they find more resources and new technology for recovery

Permitting for new play development in Wyoming is 7-10 years compared to other states that take 3-5 years

Issues for Wyoming Oil

Quality of oil

Public opinion

Association gas (flaring)

Learn curve/optimization

Availability of C02 & economics

Regulation and approval time

What do competing states have in common?

Most are on private lands

Fast approval times

Short cycle time from discovery to development

Companies have invested money into development

Issues for uranium

Price market public perception

Issues with alternative Sources

Cost

Reliability power storage

Cost of infrastructure

Growing concerns- birds, public health, etc

Tom’s thoughts:

Federal rules and regulations not likely to be reduced

Shale/unconventional play continue to expand

Public vs. private land development and time involved

Public will remain interested but uneducated

“Every time the national energy policy sneezes, Wyoming will no doubt catch a cold”

We need to get involved and informed and list to the public-using new public media

Look for & capitalize on value chain opportunities

Be a good corporate citizen- good jobs, safety, environmental stewardship, etc

Help key decision makers and public understand the impacts of regulations

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Get a handle on private vs. private land issues

Get actively involved in factual education on resource development-families, teachers and students

Heartland Energy Complex, Alberta, Canada- Senator Larry Hicks

Wyoming looking at value added development to enhance our mineral development

On March 8 th a group of Wyoming legislators were hosted by the Heartland Energy Complex.

The complex was a result of the oil tar sands in Alberta that serves as a model of value added development. The development is over 150,000 acres of light and heavy industrial development, including oil refineries, plastic industry, fertilizer, pharmaceuticals, and asphalt shingles. Average salary in Ft Mc Murry where they mine the tar sands is $90,000; in the value added industries the average household income is $140,000

One thing they lack is diversity of resources—dependent upon tar sands. Wyoming has a more diversified variety of resources- trona, coal, gas, rare earth minerals, lithium, bentonite, etc.

How can the state facilitate that private sector development? What is the role of government and the private sector? What can the government do to facilitate that development?

Governor has established a task force, and a select committee to analyze the challenges and needs

Our strengths:

Diversity of resources

Better transportation infrastructure

Pipelines

Reality of implementing it at a state level:

Federal constraints limit the ability to grow our economy through value added development

Private sector innovation will be the key to development

Next great crisis for the US:

Federal government consumes 25% of all goods and services created in USA.

Over $1 trillion deficit

Debt $26 trillion

$90 trillion in un-funded liabilities, Medicaid, Medicare, Welfare, etc

Development of this project will take strong leadership

Look at the role of the State of Wyoming in providing opportunities for value added projects. $150

Trillion of mineral development currently locked up in 11 western states

Task force and select committee will try to maximize opportunities to move the project forward to help raise the average household incomes in Wyoming

Wyoming Frontier Development- Marci Kasper

Brought Bill Gates to Wyoming to meet with officials. At the state and agency levels, the public presents issues but does not get the support, and follow up, needed. They hand them over to small communities that don’t know how to move forward with smart development. Need to strengthen the connection between the small communities and state government so they have the resources to succeed.

Memorial Hospital of Carbon County- Ned Hill

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Currently 184 employees

According to federal government core measures, the hospital is setting goals and improving in customer satisfaction, health care, physician recruitment, visiting physician recruitment

Growth initiatives

Open joint camp prepare community for hospital district vote spring 2015

Expand hours at Spruce and Energy Basin clinic

Increase utilization of swing bed service

Explore partnership with Wamsutter and Saratoga

Admissions are up in 2014, as are surgeries, and o/p visits and births. ER visits are down as a result of new clinics opening.

Finances- gross revenue and net revenue are up, and expenses are staying flat

NOI for 2013 was $1.9M, 2014 is $2.3M, 2015 projected at $2.0M

Operational improvements planned

Get revenue cycle A/R days Net to under 50

Salaries- reduce overtime percent from 4.3% to under 2%

Employee retention- reduce voluntary turnover from 33% to 17%

Financial operations- reduce credit balance to under 5%

Going paperless

100% prepared for ICD-10 deadline by Oct 1, 2015

Housing Survey- Cindy Wallace

Housing roundtables held last fall in Rawlins and Saratoga

Survey sent out to larger employers and 120 responses came back

58% of responders own their own homes; those that didn’t sited lack of affordable housing, and habitable available housing

Majority looking for 3 bedrooms in the $150,000-$200,000 price range

Rentals- renters would be willing to pay rents ranging from $500 - $1,000 per month

59 responders said they would move within the year if a better option became available

40 renters would buy a home if one they could afford became available

Comments: lack of housing for lower income and entry-level persons, housing costs are inflated, limited housing inventory in all of Carbon County communities

Issues with quality of the housing that is available; not all inventory is listed with a realtor-need to talk to town clerks in the smaller towns for available housing

CCEDC suggested to hold another housing roundtable.

Wrap Up- Cindy Wallace thanked everyone for attending and thanks given again to sponsors Anadarko,

BLM, WLC, Ur-Energy, Sinclair, and BP!

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