Climate Fix Blog

You may be surprised to hear which state just created a nation leading program towards advancing more clean energy.  While coal and natural gas still generate roughly three quarters of Utah’s electricity and state leaders continue to prop up the coal industry even as the price of renewable energy drops, there’s still progress being made – thanks in part to the advocacy and expertise of Western Resource Advocates.  

What began a decade ago as a discussion between leaders in Salt Lake City and Rocky Mountain Power about transitioning to renewable energy has now grown into something much more innovative – the Utah Community Clean Energy Program.  

This program is a first-of-its-kind initiative that will allow communities and utility customers to support the development of new renewable energy resources. Currently, 16 communities across the state have formally chosen to participate.   

This remarkable milestone is the culmination of careful collaboration among local governments, Rocky Mountain Power, community leaders, and environmental organizations like Western Resource Advocates.  

A Long Road to Approval 

The path to the Community Clean Energy Program program starts in 2016, when Salt Lake City began talks with Rocky Mountain Power (the eastern business unit of PacifiCorp) about achieving 100% clean energy. By 2018, Park City and other communities joined the discussion, and that summer, Rocky Mountain Power brought former state Rep. Steve Handy into the mix.  

Handy – an outspoken proponent of renewable energy – worked closely with the utility, other legislators, community leaders and advocacy groups to pass House Bill 411, the Community Renewable Energy Act, in 2019. Co-written by Park City Environmental Sustainability Manager Luke Cartin, the bill created a framework for local governments to partner with Rocky Mountain Power and develop a community-based 100% renewable energy program.  

The legislation was groundbreaking. For the first time, HB 411 provided a pathway for communities that wanted more renewable energy options without requiring a statewide mandate. By pooling resources and investing in new clean energy projects – not just renewable energy credits – participating communities could increase the amount of clean electricity serving their residents and businesses.   

Any ambitious initiative that casts a large net across a state of 3.5 million people takes considerable time to achieve. HB 411 proved to be no exception. The bill’s passage kicked off seven years of stakeholder engagement, regulatory proceedings, negotiations with Rocky Mountain Power and extensive community outreach. The Utah Public Service Commission finally approved the program in March 2026, enabling participating communities to adopt local ordinances and move the Community Clean Energy Program from a long-discussed concept to reality. 

Sixteen Communities Choose to Move Forward 

Sixteen communities opted to join the program: Alta, Castle Valley, Emigration Canyon, Francis, Grand County, Holladay, Midvale, Millcreek, Moab, Oakley, Ogden, Park City, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County, Springdale, and Summit County. Together, these participants represent roughly 20% of Utah’s energy load – nearly 300,000 homes and businesses.  

The group includes cities along the Wasatch Front, mountain communities whose economies depend on winter recreation, small towns with fewer than 500 residents, and rural counties. The diversity of the coalition offers lessons many states can learn from. Communities don’t need to agree on every aspect of climate policy to recognize the value of reduced pollution and cleaner, more affordable energy. What’s more, communities can work together to accelerate clean energy development even when federal policies shift drastically. 

The Importance of Opt-Out Programs 

Under the currently approved program structure, residential customers in the 16 communities will automatically be enrolled with the opportunity to opt out. This is a critical component to the future success and effectiveness of the Community Clean Energy Program. Residential energy programs with automatic enrollment historically have much higher rates of participation than those that require customers to voluntarily opt in.  

For example, as of 2023 only about 1,200 out of over 950,000 residential customers in Utah had opted in to one of Rocky Mountain Power’s time of use rate offering – a participation rate of 0.1%. Time of use rates allow customers to control their monthly electricity bills by shifting household energy use to hours when energy is cheaper. This is in stark contrast to some utilities in the West with opt-out time of use rates that have participation rates over 50%.  

The initial residential charge for the Utah Renewable Communities Program has been set at $4 per month. Commercial customers will pay a monthly rate based on the amount of electricity they use. Customers are not required to install any equipment like plug-in solar. The collected monthly funds will be used to support the development of new, utility-scale clean energy resources. Income-qualified households will receive bill credits that effectively allow them to participate at no additional cost. 

The Unprecedented Challenge of Data Center Development 

The program is moving forward just as a single proposed development has thrust Utah into the contentious national debate around data centers and the enormous energy and water demands they place on our grids. Project Stratos, the proposed data center campus in Box Elder County, is expected to require nine gigawatts of power when fully operational. To put that in perspective, Utah’s average annual statewide electricity demand is approximately 4 gigawatts.  

Developers have stated that on-site methane gas resources will fully power Project Stratos, but Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said only the first phase of the project should be powered by fossil fuels. (Following intense public opposition to the proposed development, Cox issued an executive order in May directing Utah to create a “framework” to evaluate the potential impacts of data centers.) Project Stratos could raise Utah’s greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60%.   

The unprecedented energy demand that data centers present reinforces the need for states to accelerate the transition to renewable resources. Large data centers like Project Stratos and Project Jupiter in New Mexico are increasingly relying on fossil fuel resources developers plan to build on-site. Facilities like these will undo decades of hard work that organizations like WRA have spent reducing the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that have intensified climate change and its impacts across the West.  

Next Steps 

Customers living in the 16 communities participating in the Community Clean Energy Program will receive notices later this year, and the new monthly charge will be included on bills in early 2027.  

Once the funding is up and running, new clean energy resources will be developed specifically to serve the program participants. These resources can be generated within Rocky Mountain Power’s grid in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. As the program progresses, the goal is to add enough clean energy to the grid to match the amount consumed annually by the participating communities.  

Utah’s Community Clean Energy Program is about far more than adding renewable energy to the grid. It represents a practical, locally driven investment in the state’s future. By reducing reliance on fossil fuel generation, participating communities can help improve air quality, reduce climate pollution, and protect the landscapes, snowpack, and recreation hubs that are central to Utah’s identity and prosperity.  

The road from negotiations in Salt Lake City a decade ago to participation by 16 communities was long and often challenging. But now, the program offers Utah a pathway to cleaner air, a stronger economy, and a more reliable energy future. For the rest of the West, it offers a reminder that meaningful clean energy progress can come from the ground up, one community at a time.