Flip a switch, and the lights come on. It seems simple and innocuous, and for many, it’s where the story begins and ends. But energy in Utah is anything but simple. Every phone charged, every movie streamed and every room illuminated comes with a cost. In the Beehive State, more than in most places, that’s paid in carbon.
Utah generates 64% of its electricity by burning coal. That proportion has declined substantially since 2001 (94%) but it still dwarfs the national figure of 23%. Utah has the worst average air quality index ranking of any state and is economically vulnerable as climate change affects snow conditions. A coordinated, concerted effort between residents, local industry and the state government to back cleaner electricity generation is needed, but that’s not what’s occurring.
Fees for some could quintuple under a bill that advanced on Monday.
(Richard Vogel | AP file photo) A Chevrolet Volt hybrid car charges at a ChargePoint charging station at a parking garage in Los Angeles on Oct. 17, 2018.
| Feb. 2, 2021, 12:45 a.m.
Owners of electric and hybrid vehicles may soon face up to a five-fold increase in Utah registration fees making them the highest in America which critics say will hurt sales and harm efforts to reduce air pollution.
That comes as the House Transportation Committee on Monday advanced HB209 on 6-4 vote, which would increase the fees. The bill now goes to the full House.
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| Updated: Jan. 22, 2021, 12:55 a.m.
Under a proposal expected to be unveiled in coming days for the upcoming legislative session, two major Utah state agencies would be merged, teaming environmental regulators with officials who oversee the development of the state’s natural resources.
The bill proposes folding the departments of Natural Resources (DNR) and Environmental Quality (DEQ) under one umbrella, possibly along with other state agencies currently housed in the governor’s office.
The goal of the bill is to promote government efficiency, according to the sponsoring lawmaker Rep. Casey Snider, R-Paradise, who believes the agencies’ overlapping missions result in bureaucratic redundancy. But critics are concerned its effect, intended or otherwise, would dilute and diminish the authority of officials charged with protecting Utah’s environment.