Utah Gives 19 Communities the Green Light to Choose Clean Energy

Salt Lake City-- Today the Utah Public Service Commission unanimously approvedthe Utah Renewable Communities(URC) program, an initiative that will let residents and businesses in 19 Utah communities opt into affordable clean energy through Rocky Mountain Power. It means that roughly one in five Rocky Mountain Power customers in Utah will soon have a choice in where their electricity comes from.

The order, effective immediately, now moves to the local level. Each participating city council and county commission has 90 days, until June 2, 2026, to formally adopt the program by passing a local ordinance. Once adopted, Rocky Mountain Power customers will be automatically enrolled, with project noticing and bill impacts to begin later this year. Customers will have the freedom to opt out at no cost over a six month period.

The program will cost residential customers a flat $4.00 per month with no cost to qualifying low-income customers.

The program was authorized under Utah's Community Clean Energy Act, originally passed with bipartisan support in 2019. Under the law, participating communities will work with Rocky Mountain Power to invest in new clean energy generation, with the goal of matching 100% of participants' annual electricity consumption with clean energy by 2030.

The Commission acted with urgency to ensure that the program's clean energy resources can qualify for expiring federal Production Tax Credits, which would significantly lower costs for participating communities. The Commission found the program to be in the public interest and noted that delaying approval could have put those savings at risk.

By participating in the program, communities will be helping to bring more, affordable clean energy into Utah, something that Rocky Mountain Power has been slow to do and recently pulled the plug on entirely. Renewable energy projects in Utah not only support good paying jobs as well as tax revenue for the state but also help to displace polluting fossil fuels, like Rocky Mountain Power's Hunter and Huntington coal plants, that emit thousands of tons of dangerous air pollutants every year.

Participating communities span the state, from Ogden in the north to Springdale and Moab in the south, They include Salt Lake City, Park City, Summit County, Grand County, Midvale, Millcreek, Cottonwood Heights, Kearns, Holladay, Coalville, Emigration Canyon, Francis, Oakley, Salt Lake County, the Town of Alta, and the Town of Castle Valley.

Sierra Club was a part of the regulatory proceeding and testified before the Commission in support of the program.

"We are deeply grateful to the Public Service Commission for clearing the way for Utah communities to move forward," said Luis Miranda, Organizer for the Sierra Club in Utah. "This decision was seven years in the making. Residents showed up at hearings, local leaders put in the work, and the Commission listened. Now it is up to city councils and county commissions to bring this home for their communities before the June 2 deadline."

"People in Ogden are practical. We want to know what something costs and whether it is worth it," said Linda Zeveloff, a resident of Ogden. "Four dollars a month to choose clean energy? This is the kind of option that the majority of my neighbors have wanted to have for a long time. And also an affordable option for most families in our community. We are ready for this. I hope our leaders are too."

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.