Among the over 430 bills Utah legislators have proposed this legislative session, there are dozens designed to make changes to Utah’s energy policy.
One uniquely qualified legislator to talk about energy policy is electrical power engineer and St. George Rep. Colin Jack. He spoke with Tom Williams Tuesday on Access Utahabout the outlook of energy independence in Utah.
“We’re interconnected through the Western electricity grid and a shortage of electricity in any one of those states creates a shortage in the whole thing. Even if we’re able to cover our own demand, if there’s a shortage in California we’ll get the price spikes and it costs our ratepayers millions of dollars,” he said.
Jack has proposed House Bill 191 which he says is a way for Utah to ensure we can produce the energy necessary to power our state before tearing down any existing energy infrastructure such as coal or natural gas plants.
“Let’s not tear down what we have until we have its replacement,” he said.
Salt Lake City Rep. Joel Briscoe also spoke about energy policy and expressed some concerns with Rep. Jack’s proposed bill.
“We need planning, but telling the public service commission that they can’t retire coal-fired power plants until there’s another nuclear power plant or natural gas plant or a coal-fired power plant to replace it puts restrictions on Pacific Corp and seems to be putting the finger on the scale in my opinion,” Briscoe said.
Rep. Jack has also proposed HB0374 which he says helps clarify Utah’s energy laws.
“We worked to reorganize it and put things in a logical order and give them some priority, and some flow from top to bottom," Rep. Jack said.
Rep. Briscoe said he also has concerns about this bill. He said the language of the bill creates a legislative checklist that may prevent Utah from developing some types of energy, like wind and solar, if they don't meet every priority listed in the bill.
Both bills received favorable recommendations from the House Public Utilities, Energy and Technology Committee and are currently scheduled for their third reading in the House of Representatives.
