GILLETTE - It takes energy to make energy.

In the pursuit of nearly 1 billion cubic feet of coal-bed methane and 1 million tons of coal every day, the mineral industries here consume a lot of megawatts.

Rural electric cooperative Powder River Energy Corp. annually supplies about 70 megawatts to coal-bed methane operations and 135 megawatts to power the region's coal mines. Forecast growth in both activities is one driver behind Basin Electric Power Cooperative's recent proposal for a new 250-megawatt power plant here.

"Energy, for our Power River (Basin) system, is growing. Our total system growth in energy sales year-to-date is about 7 percent," PRECorp CEO Mike Easley said.

Typical growth for a rural electric cooperative is about 2.5 percent annually. But in order to match mounting gas production, mining and related electrical demands here, PRECorp estimates it will need to supply an additional 14 megawatts of electricity every year until 2019, according to Easley.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal said the escalating energy industry is one the state is eager to embrace. In fact, he personally urged Basin Electric to consider building new electrical generation in the state.

"I encouraged them to look at the sites here in Wyoming. We're going to work with them and try to make it a success," Freudenthal said.

Basin Electric last week announced its intention to build up to 250 megawatts of coal-fired electrical generation somewhere within the Powder River Basin coal mining district. Final siting and permitting decisions are many months away.

In addition to Basin Electric's ambitions, there are already 810 megawatts of new power generation permitted in the region. Black Hills Power plans to construct the 500-megawatt WyGen No. 2 plant just east of Gillette, and North American Power Group plans to build the 310-megawatt Two Elk power plant in southern Campbell County.

Construction on both plants is expected to begin in 2005. And most of the new megawatts are targeted for out-of-state markets, such as the Colorado Front Range.

In the meantime, both coal and coal-bed methane producers continue to ramp up their own output and consume more electricity in the process. For example, Williams Production RMT and its partner plan to drill about 900 new wells in 2005 - a $70 million capital expense, according to the company.

And each well requires electrical power.

Half of the electrical use in coal-bed methane production is to power submersible pumps. The pumps are used to siphon water from the coal in order to "de-pressure" the aquifer and release the gas from the coal. Electricity is also needed for blower systems that speed up the flow of gas from wellheads.

And in the face of rising natural gas prices, electricity is becoming a more attractive option for powering pipeline compressor stations, which typically run on natural gas.

However, there is some reluctance to switch to electricity, Easley said.

"There's a philosophy among those in the (coal-bed methane) business, and that is their business is gas, so that's what they want to use," Easley said. "But there are some producers who are looking at large electric compressors. Our load forecast does anticipate some switching."

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 682-3388 or dzeffer@trib.com.