For many Logan residents, the 17 threatened ash trees on Canyon Road have become a symbol of a much larger issue: how the city is managing its rapid growth. As the city prepares to vote on multiple high-stakes environmental issues Tuesday night, advocacy groups are mobilizing.
At their last meeting, the council voted to take part in a natural gas-fired power plant project with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems in Millard County. The project will provide fossil fuel energy to meet peak demand for more than 25 years. The council also delayed a decision on another contract to take part in a plant in Power County, Idaho, which would provide base load power for the next three decades.
Tuesday they will decide whether to enter into the second contract.
The approved project leaves the city responsible for paying about $206 million over a 20-year period. If the second project is approved, that number would rise to nearly $500 million.
Patrick Belmont, the vice chair of Logan’s Renewable Energy and Sustainability Advisory Board, said the city never consulted his group before bringing the contract forward for a decision. He said the group is very concerned about the city entering into a binding agreement to continue burning fossil fuels with no off-ramps — for multiple reasons.
“There are so many other options that we can pursue,” Belmont said. “And this, it’s just a landscape that’s changing so quickly right now to lock yourself into 30 years' worth of old technology. I think it’s a bad choice.”
For one, entering a contract for natural gas would severely restrict the city’s renewable energy growth, capping it at a mere 30%. This goes against the city’s efforts and goal to reduce its carbon footprint and reach 50% renewable energy or more by 2030, according to a statement put out by the board.
Belmont said these contracts make that goal impossible.
The council will also vote on a resolution that will lay the financial groundwork for the proposed First Dam Water tank and Pipeline Project, which threatens the health of Canyon Road’s ash trees. If the council adopts this resolution, the city will then hold another public hearing on the issuance of bonds for the project.
