Congressional staffs from the office of U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators toured Southwest Wyoming this week as part of an effort to help the Washington D.C. based operations better understand Wyoming.

Lincoln County Commission Chairman Kent Connelly was among those hosting the tours.

Connelly brought the gathering of multiple federal staffers to the Rocky Mountain Power Naughton Power Plant, to help them understand how the system ties in with Lincoln County’s coal sources at Kemmerer Operations.

The tour continued to ExxonMobile Shute Creek operations, a hub for helium and liquefied natural gas production, in addition to an expanding carbon capture and storage based facility.

Both provide to the Lincoln County tax base and employ several hundred people, many living in Lincoln County.

“It’s important to educate the congressman’s staff of the need for reliable energy,” Commissioner Connelly said of the visit and tours this week. “We believe we should lead the new age of energy development.”

Connelly emphasized that these Lincoln County and Wyoming based operations help “keep minerals in Wyoming and produced in Wyoming.”

Speaking of Lincoln County, Connelly advised. “We will be the energy hub of Wyoming and lead the state in revenue.”