Western Fuels-Wyoming, Inc. Has Joined A Petition To The United States District Court For The District Of Wyoming

Western Fuels-Wyoming, Inc., along with Tri-State Generation and Transmission, Inc. and Basin Electric Power Cooperative, has joined a petition to the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming.  The petition requests a review of final agency action regarding the change in the royalty valuation rules issued on July 1, 2016, by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).  The final rule includes language that specifically addresses the valuation of coal for royalty purposes for cooperatives based upon the sale of electricity, and replaces the benchmark system of valuation that has been in use since 1989.  The Final Rule is arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law because it does not base royalty on the value of coal, the product which is removed from the federal lease, as required by ONRR’s statutory authority but, instead, on the value of an entirely different commodity, electricity, or on a value to be determined by ONRR.  The petition for review proceedings will take place in 2017.