While energy was a star in North Dakota and Texas, it was a bane in Wyoming -- and the two are directly related.
North Dakota's energy boom is fueled by new production from shale, a type of rock that was previously difficult to extract oil and gas from. But all the new production is depressing natural gas prices, making Wyoming's legacy production less profitable than it once was. In fact, natural gas production in Wyoming has dropped by 15% since 2009, according to the state's Economic Analysis Division, displaced by cheaper production from elsewhere.
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The other big energy drag in Wyoming is coal. Wyoming's coal has less energy and is dirtier than coal from places such as West Virginia. As utilities worldwide scramble to clean up their air emissions, more Wyoming coal is simply being left in the ground.
