CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A group of Wyoming lawmakers is bucking the U.S. trend of supporting renewable energy with a plan to do the opposite: Fine utilities if they provide energy produced by wind or the sun.

Blustery Wyoming ranks among the top states for wind-energy potential, but the coal, oil and natural gas industries are the backbone of the state's economy.

With a $360 million budget shortfall in public education caused by downturns in those industries and corresponding state revenue declines, legislators are hard-pressed for solutions.

Renewable energy, some say, has been overly promoted and subsidized by government at the expense of the fossil fuel industry.

"I want the electricity at my house generated by coal, because that's the cheapest way to go," said Rep. David Miller, a Republican, of the fossil-fuel requirement he's co-sponsoring with eight others.

http://old.barchart.com/headlines/story/167218/wyoming-proposal-would-require-utilities-to-use-fossil-fuels