Although tax breaks may entice developers of coal-gasification technologies to set up shop in Wyoming, they may also create a false sense of commercial viability for the industry.

Rep. Debbie Hammons, D-Worland, said legislators need to consider the long-term implications of several tax breaks being proposed to entice future coal-based power development in the state.

"When is it an incentive and when is it a subsidy?" Hammons said.

Hammons' comments came Monday during a hearing of the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Interim Committee in Casper. The committee advanced several new tax break proposals, including a 22-year severance tax holiday on all Wyoming coal used in power plants using integrated gasification combined cycle technology, should they be located in the state.

Steve Waddington, executive director of the Wyoming Infrastructure Authority, said eliminating the state's 5.5 percent severance tax on coal for a 500-megawatt IGCC plant, for example, would amount to an annual $2.2 million tax break.

"This would be a significant incentive for those considering an IGCC plant to build it in Wyoming," Waddington said in his testimony before the committee.

For more of this and other stories read Wednesday's Casper Star-Tribune.