Latest news with #UtahPetroleumAssociation
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is this the ‘energy decade'? Why energy is so hot right now
In today's world — in Utah, across the West, overseas and everywhere else — dependable energy is central. The Kem Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah hosted a discussion Thursday to explain the dynamics of energy production and consumption, as well as the realities of what the Beehive State and the rest of the country is facing. A report by the institute says according to 2024 numbers, Utah enjoys the cheapest residential electricity prices in the nation. 'From 1980 to 2019, Utah enjoyed the status of a net energy exporter, meaning Utah generated more energy than needed to other states and sometimes other countries,' the report said. Utah energy production began decreasing in 2015 and continued to drop until it crossed the consumption line in 2020, flipping Utah into net energy importer status for the first time in 40 years. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox says that is why Utah has to be a pioneer and have vision — like the people who came before us. It's why Cox launched 'Operation Gigawatt,' the drive to take energy production to a new level. Utah and this country is at a crossroad. In this state, five active coal mines were in operation in 2024, the fewest since Utah mining operations began nearly 150 years ago. The good news for the state is that Utah returned to being an exporter because of crude oil production and natural gas opportunities. But the state continues to work through its own changes as coal production and electricity generated from coal-fired power plants hit low levels, but crude oil production remains higher than at any time in history. Utah crude oil production increased 13% to 65.1 million barrels in 2024. Those high production levels allowed for exports of over 33 million barrels from the Uinta Basin traveling via train to the Gulf Coast. According to the Utah Petroleum Association, the Salt Lake City area is home to five refineries that all operate at capacity and take a mix of Utah's waxy crude and other crudes. Other regional crudes and even Canadian crude are also processed in SLC via two incoming crude pipelines, one from Wyoming and one from Colorado. Finished products (jet fuel, diesel and gasoline) from the Salt Lake refineries are transported via truck to local and regional markets, via one of two pipelines to Las Vegas or to Idaho and Washington, or via a pipeline network to the Salt Lake International Airport for jet fuel. Solar has also been hot in Utah. Utility scale production amounted to 14% of Utah's total electricity production last year. In the residential sector, total installed photovoltaic capacity increased from seven megawatts in 2013 to 429 megawatts in 2023. 'Many people are calling the next 10 years the 'energy decade,'' said Natalie Gochnour, director of the Gardner Institute. 'The Utah economy benefits from abundant energy sources and supplies that fuel economic opportunity. In a very real way, energy development is economic development, and the data affirm Utah's privileged position as an energy state.' The lead author of the report summarized the report's findings in this way: 'Crude oil and natural gas still feature prominently in Utah's energy mix, but coal's role diminishes each year,' said Michael Vanden Berg, energy and minerals program manager for the Utah Geological Survey. 'The electricity market continues to adjust to decarbonization pressures, balanced with grid reliability and affordability. This energy evolution will continue with ongoing emphasis on renewable and carbon-neutral energy sources (in particular, baseload geothermal and nuclear electric generation), innovations in the hydrogen economy, and electrification of the transportation system.'
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Legislative session hailed as success despite challenges for energy sector
Utah lawmakers made protecting existing electricity ratepayers one of their top priorities this past session — especially for rural consumers; they moved to keep the Intermountain Power Plant open and they tackled the use of AI for existing apps and app developers. Additionally, they put in guardrails for above ground storage tanks for petroleum products and they assessed a 5 cent tax per barrel of oil to help local communities pay for road repairs associated with industrial activity. At a Tuesday webinar hosted by the Utah Petroleum Association, multiple representatives from energy, mining and retail associations detailed some of the bigger impacts that came from a record-breaking session that saw 959 bills introduced. Rikki Hrenko-Browning, association president, said there were 159 bills those industries tracked, with some coming down to passage in the final minutes of the session. 'Overall, it was a successful session,' she said, although there was a lot of wrangling, negotiations and last-minute angst. Lawmakers moved to amplify energy transmission and put in safeguards for rural electric cooperatives, said Nathan Johnson, executive director of the Utah Rural Electric Cooperatives. 'I think we walked away as unscathed as was possible. I think the issues that we saw and just the underlying kind of political issues were the House and Senate were not fully aligned on how they wanted to deal with the issues of data centers, and so that created some obstacles and challenges for us,' Johnson said. Those safeguards were contained in SB132, which deals with large load electricity consumers — those of 100 megawatts or greater — to operate within rules and cost allocations to be developed by the Utah Public Service Commission. Johnson said a key aspect of the measure deals with data centers that want to access existing electric utility providers and the transmission infrastructure without necessarily paying for those costs. Another win for industry came from HB378 which establishes a predictable funding source for Endangered Species Act mitigation, which will be the species protection account after the bill takes effect. 'We obviously don't need to preach to the choir here and tell folks how problematic an Endangered Species listing can be for extractive industries. And so the work of this fund is very, very important, and it's something that, you know, we've had a lot of success over the years as a state,' said Brian Somers, president of the Utah Mining Association. The fund has been inherently troublesome because of its variability, Somers added. 'Over the years, the funding has really gone up and down from year to year based on the budget situation. And where most of these projects are very long term and they're getting multiple year projects, it's difficult,' he said. 'It was difficult for us on the advisory committee to really figure out how to allocate funds when one year we would have a couple of million dollars and maybe if it was a good budget year, we'd get a couple million extra dollars.' Changes in the bill rope in transmission lines for wind and solar generation, which was contentious for those industries that will face an assessment based on per mile of line of those systems that generate 340,000 volts or more. HB201 changes how the Public Service Commission evaluates integrated resource planning by PacifiCorp, while SB159 moves the state to be more protective of handling nonhazardous waste by requiring synthetic liners at disposal facilities. 'Those waste disposal facilities are going to be regulated under (the state division) of waste management and radiation control,' said Hrenko-Browning. 'This sets out some requirements to ensure that there are synthetic liners or liners with equivalency in terms of transmission of fluids to ensure that we've got cradle to grave protection for those oil and gas wastes that go into these kinds of landfills,' she said. 'It's done in a way that it's structured over time, so we're not asking folks to immediately close their facilities if they don't meet some of those liner requirements.' Two big bills were attention grabbers this last session — HB70 and HB249. The latter will establish a nuclear energy consortium as Utah eyes advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors to provide carbon free baseload power. Utah has been one of many states across the country that see nuclear energy as a long-term answer to embrace new energy demands. Participants pointed out the framework solidified in the bill is in tandem with Utah Gov. Spencer Cox's 'Operation Gigawatt' that seeks to double the state's energy production in the next decade. In the interim, Hrenko-Browning said natural gas will have a large part to play because new coal-fired power plants simply aren't being built anymore. HB70 preserves the state's ability to protect the assets of Intermountain Power Agency's power plant in Delta, and its attendant infrastructure, so it could produce that energy for Utah for the grid. The Utah Retail Merchants Association closely tracked SB226, which kept the group's president reaching for antacid pills. 'This bill took several years off my life,' said Dave Davis, president and chief legal officer for the retail association. The bill imposes certain requirements on app developers which Davis said could deter implementation of those services. 'I think technology is something that is going to touch us all and we need to make sure we keep a very innovative environment here that isn't stifled by government regulation,' he said. In the end, lawmakers agreed to a delayed implementation date for 2027, which Davis said gives the group another chance at the Legislature in 2026 to work out any bugs. 'If there are problems with the system, then we still have another legislative session that we can come back and hopefully tweak or fix or address any of those concerns that come up,' when it comes to liability if a transaction isn't made clear to consumer that they are using AI, he said. Lawmakers, in a nod to the importance of critical minerals, also passed SJR11, which recognizes the importance of developing a national strategy when it comes to supply chains of these minerals. They also passed a measure to tackle problems associated with the large infrastructure tax credit for mining operations and mineral extraction via SB234.
