Coal is stored outside the Hunter coal-fired power plant, operated by PacifiCorp, in Emery County on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
This story originally published in the Utah News Dispatch on Oct. 17.
After passing a package of energy policies and a recent announcement of a 10-year strategy to double power production in Utah, the Legislature is preparing for a 2025 general session also heavy on energy.
“Everybody that’s anybody wants to run an energy bill — senators, representatives, the president of the Senate, the speaker of the House, they want to solve these problems,” said Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, during a Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee meeting on Wednesday.
But, before that happens, the Office of Energy Development shared a snapshot of how energy strategies implemented by the state are faring this year and hinted that the first priority for the future is to serve people.
That’s a way to have a fundamental direction and to “look beyond the political fog,” Dusty Monks, interim director of the Utah Office of Energy Development, told the committee.
Cox announces plans to double energy production in Utah starting next legislative session
A lot of those principles were codified in HB374, passed earlier this year, which updated the state’s energy strategy and determined that future plans should prioritize these attributes in order of importance: adequate, reliable, dispatchable, affordable, sustainable, secure and clean.
“It’s really just not about coal or solar, wind or gas. It’s about powering our progress, about fueling our future,” Monks said. It also acknowledges the state’s current abilities to meet the needs of Utah residents.
Moving forward, the state will focus on preserving existing energy supply, developing new supply and adopting emerging technologies with data-driven calculations. The goal is to have an “abundance mindset,” Monks said, “instead of joining the energy reduction mindset that has been kind of common across the nation.”
By the next decade, the state’s energy resources that are stable and run continuously year-round are expected to shrink slightly — from 67% in 2022 to 43% in 2032, Monks said, even with intermittent resources, especially solar, doubling.
“This is very alarming, because the stable base load is the highest value energy that you can actually get for the consumers, because consumers sleep, but their energy needs do not,” he said, “and they need to have access to affordable energy 24/7.”
To concerns from Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, about potentially pushing away energy efficiency systems in favor of abundance, Monks said there are projects focused on energy efficiency in the state. But, while there is room for conservation, “you’re not going to conserve your way into prosperity.”
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Though emissions are important, “the heart of it is the people,” Monks said. And looking at costs is important to study how the whole system impacts Utahns.
“We don’t produce energy because we want to create emissions. We produce energy to take care of our people, and so putting the foundation back in there, that empowers to build a platform that can create a better future,” he said
In his view, some states are “needlessly restricting opportunities” with a narrow focus. An approach that Utah — an “all of the above” state — won’t emulate, he said.
“While other states set rigid targets tied to specific resources and cherry pick their favorite externalities, they’re losing sight of the fundamental purpose of energy production, and they’re struggling with (that),” Monks said.
Also coming in the next general session is a bill to develop a K-12 curriculum on energy, introduced by Rep. Colin Jack, R-St George, who is the chief operating officer for Dixie Power, an electric cooperative that serves Southern Utah and Northern Arizona.
Jack also sponsored some of the most reaching pieces of energy legislation this year, including HB374 — the energy strategy update bill — in addition to a bill that prevents the premature closure of coal plants and other legislation that provides the state with tools to fight “federal overreach” in energy policy.
“We need our next generation, our kids, our grandkids and the future adults, to know that when you flip the switch and the light comes on, that didn’t just happen in the wall,” Jack said.
The courses will be provided for free and for those science teachers who want them.
Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com. Follow Utah News Dispatch on Facebook and X.
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