100% Committed to Clean Energy
The Benefits of a Clean
Energy Community
Choosing renewable energy is a choice for a better future—for your family, your community, and our planet.
Adding Reliable, New Energy to the Grid
As underscored by Governor Cox’s Operation Gigawatt, Utah is facing a worrisome energy shortage, as our energy supply is projected to decrease while demand continues to rise. Thankfully, the Community Clean Energy Program is part of the solution: The program will add hundreds of megawatts of new clean energy to the Rocky Mountain Power grid to support our communities’ clean energy goals and growing energy needs. By adding new clean energy to our electricity mix that would not be developed otherwise, we can be part of the solution for Utah’s growing energy needs.
Health and Environment
The electricity used to power our homes and businesses comes from a collection of power plants connected to our grid. This includes natural gas, coal, wind, solar, hydropower, and more. When coal and natural gas plants generate electricity, greenhouse gases and air pollutants are emitted into the atmosphere as a byproduct. Renewable electricity generation does not come with harmful fossil fuel emissions.
The Program ultimately aims to bring online about 500 MW of clean energy over the coming years, based on current participating customer projections. This amount of clean energy, which would occur over several different resource procurements, would result in an estimated reduction of 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually, and 1,000 pounds of criteria pollution annually (source: EPA’s AVERT model).
Economic Growth
The Community Clean Energy Program supports economic growth by bringing new energy development to areas of the state that are hotspots for solar, wind, or other clean energy development. New projects create construction and operational jobs; provide resources to public schools via the Trust Lands Administration if projects are sited on certain state land; support private landowners if sited privately; and add to local counties’ tax base.
Supporting a healthy environment is also core to many economic drivers in Utah– whether that’s the local ski and snow sports industry, national park visitation in gateway communities, or the upcoming 2034 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Reducing pollution to protect the future of snowpack or improving visibility in national parks has a direct connection to the economic well-being of many of the URC communities. Businesses that have sustainability goals are also more likely to locate or expand in communities which reflect their values.
