Please write your House Representatives today and urge them to vote no on SB224 - Energy Independence Amendments. This bill is likely to get a vote on the House floor tomorrow. Given the short time frame, it's probably better to text rather than email. You can look up your district and contact information for your representative here.
Here is a recent article from the Salt Lake Tribune outlining the impacts of the bill. It allows Rocky Mountain Power to increase rates charged to customers in order to keep coal plants running when neighboring states stop paying a share of maintenance costs.
You can see the current status of all the bills we are following on our legislative tracker.
SB224 talking points
SB 224 would put Rocky Mountain Power’s Utah customers at risk by having us pick up the costs of operating and maintaining coal-fired power plants that other states will no longer be paying for.
SB 224 has been rushed and there has been no public information shared about the potential costs to Utah customers or the emissions impact of this legislation.
SB 224 would replace decades of smart and balanced electricity resource planning that prioritizes the lowest cost and lowest risk electricity resources with a process that prioritizes keeping aging generation units online.
Utahns deserve an energy policy that is future oriented and plans actively for a transition to cleaner and more affordable energy resources. SB 224 is a step in the wrong direction.
You can see more from Utah Clean Energy's action alert. And as always - you can see the current status of all the bills we are following on our legislative tracker.
Thank you!