Utah Public Radio published this article in collaboration with KOAL News as part of its election coverage.
Editor’s note: The candidate’s answers may be slightly edited for length, style or grammar.
Seeking election for the third time in three years, Congresswoman Celeste Maloy is adapting to a newly drawn congressional map that spans St. George to Summit County.
Rep. Maloy joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss her time on the campaign trail, her platform and what she aims to accomplish if elected.
When we first spoke with Maloy in the primary election, we asked why she was running. Now, with an extended amount of time on the trail since then, we asked what has surprised her the most over the course of her campaign.
“The thing that surprises me the most is just how engaged people are in all of these issues. You know, I’m still fairly new at politics, and I’m learning as I go. And you expect people to have strong opinions about the things that happen in their neighborhoods. You expect people to be involved to a certain extent. But especially in the rural areas, people are really plugged in. They know what’s happening in their communities,” said Maloy. “They know what’s happening in the neighboring communities. And they really care whether you’re showing up, whether you’re listening, whether you’re there to learn. Nobody wants me to come and talk to them and tell them what they need. They want me to show up and listen and let them tell me what they need.”
A hot-button issue affecting residents across CD-3 is artificial intelligence data centers. Maloy shared her thoughts on these facilities, including how communities where they are placed can be protected from potential negative impacts.
“I always tell people we should have data centers everywhere people in Utah want them. Which means people in Utah have to have the information they need to make a good decision. So the companies that want to build these data centers need to be showing up in the communities and doing what I just talked about. They need to listen and hear what concerns people have in their communities. And then doing what they can to, one, address the concerns. And, two, be as transparent as possible about what the impacts of a data center are going to be on a community,” shared the candidate. “I tell people all the time, there are counties in this district that are more than 90% federal land. They really don’t have much of a tax base. And if an AI data center can help solve that problem and make it so that they can, you know, haul off the trash and fill in the potholes in the roads, then great. But the first thing they need to do is show up in those communities, get to know people, figure out what the community needs, and answer questions like how much water are they going to use? How are they going to make sure that they don’t increase people’s power bills? What are the long-term impacts going to be?”
She continued, “Luckily, in Utah, we actually have a state law that says they can’t come in and increase people’s power bills. They have to provide their own power and hold ratepayers harmless. But most people in Utah don’t realize that. And so, there’s a political process that has to happen here. And then, if a community decides that that’s something they want, I think they should be able to enter into those agreements. And so, I’m worried about either extreme where a company comes in, and they reach an agreement and the public hasn’t had any input. I’m also worried that when the public has been able to ask their questions, they do decide they want it, and then people from neighboring communities come in and try to bully them out of the market.”
Another major topic of public discussion in the district is nuclear energy production, as well as renewable energy sources. Maloy shared her perspective on these forms of energy production and the policies she would like to see enacted if elected.
“I think it’s really exciting that there are all these energy production opportunities. I just came here from the Carbon-Emery economic development meeting. Where they were talking about some of the things that are happening with mining and energy production, and I just think it’s great that this part of the state is having a boom moment,” said Maloy.
Continued the candidate: “The policies I’d like to see in place, I’ve already voted on some of them. I’ve already introduced some bills. I want to make sure that we have government red tape get out of the way of communities like these being able to have development. So, if a mine wants to come in, or if, you know, an atomic energy company wants to come in, we obviously have to make sure that they’re going to keep the people safe, and they’re not going to damage any of our natural resources. But sometimes we have redundant government hoops they have to jump through, and we need to streamline that so that the cost of getting up and running isn’t so high in time or dollars, so that the jobs can be here, but also the progress can be happening.”
One issue affecting not just CD-3, but most of the western United States, is water. With current Colorado River Agreements phasing out at the end of 2026, Maloy explained what role she thinks the federal government should play in negotiations and how she’d advocate for her constituents across the district if elected.
“The federal government plays a role in the Colorado River because it’s an interstate body of water. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that Congress has to be in the middle of it. So I’ve spent the last several years trying to keep Congress out of those negotiations and let the states negotiate as equals. And one of the reasons is because if Congress gets involved, California has more representatives than the other six basin states combined. And I wanted the states to be negotiating on a more fair footing. But because the states have not been able to reach an agreement, the Bureau of Reclamation has been involved, and they released the EIS, the Environmental Impact Statement, that basically said, follow the law of the river,” said Maloy. “There was a lot of hysterical reporting about it where the lower basin was acting as if they had really taken one for the team. But basically, it just said that they need to follow the law of the river. I think in the future, we’re going to need to get more innovative with water.”
Maloy continued: “I’m in the middle of working with people right now on how Congress can change the incentives and make it easier for states to negotiate. Not for Congress to step in and take over the negotiations, but to change the incentives so that when states negotiate, they have more incentive to reach an agreement. Right now, they’re sort of disincentivized. If Colorado and California agree on something, there’s a risk that they go home and their residents say, ‘You sold us out.’ It’s a zero-sum game. And I’m working with colleagues right now on a plan that could change that and just make it so that, you know, we can have win-win-win situations. And we can make the water go farther instead of having this be a zero-sum game where people are, you know, fighting over a finite number of drops of water. And every time one state wins, it means another state has to lose”
Rounding out our conversation, Maloy shared why residents of CD-3 should vote for her come Nov. 3: “I hope that they will want to vote for me because they’ve seen the work I’ve already done, and they’ve seen me. I’ve been in these communities. It’s a big district. It’s one of the biggest districts in the country that’s not an entire state. And not only is it big, but it’s also not right along any major transportation corridors. And so it takes some work to get out and be in these communities. And I’ve been doing that. And I hope that people will know, because they’re seeing me, that I’m going to continue to show up. I’m going to keep listening and solving problems for the people who live here. I didn’t run because of big national issues. I ran because of local issues. And I’m going to keep working on local issues at the national level and bring home as many wins as I can for the people who live in these towns that are within this station’s service area.”
This article does not serve as an endorsement for the candidate featured. All candidates in the 2026 election cycle are entitled to one free interview. To schedule, email news@koal.net.
