For the better part of 40 years, Utah was a net energy exporter thanks to coal. That started to change over the last decade.
“We peaked in coal production in the late 90s, early 2000s up to 27 million tons a year,” said Utah Geological Survey Program Manager Michael Vanden Berg. “Since then, it's been a pretty steady decline. I see that staying relatively steady over the next few years.”
Around 2020, Utah started to consume more energy than it produced. A new analysis from the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute shows Utah is again exporting energy thanks almost entirely to petroleum.
“The biggest story recently is our production for crude oil is at record levels, over 60 million barrels right now,” Vanden Berg said. “The reason we crossed over again in 2023-2024 is crude oil. Coal did not return. Coal is still at a very low level, but crude oil doubled, tripled during that time frame.”
Utah exported 65.1 million barrels in 2024. It was loaded on trucks, then trains and eventually shipped to the Gulf Coast for refinement. Almost all of it comes from one place.
“Right now, the Uinta basin accounts for 93% of our crude oil production,” Vanden Berg said. “Pretty much 100% of the drilling that's taking place in Utah right now is happening in the Uinta basin.”
The amount of Uinta Basin oil could increase even more if a railway project years in the making gets a green light from the U.S. Supreme Court. The project has been held up since 2023 after a federal appeals court ruled a critical environmental impact statement did not go far enough and violated the law.
The news that Utah now produces more energy than it consumes appears to be right in line with the energy independence goals of Republican state lawmakers. But the reality is a little more complicated than that.
Being a net exporter does not necessarily mean the state is or can be self-sustaining. Energy exports are measured in thermal units, commonly called BTUs, and don’t only take into account the amount of electricity generated or petroleum refined by the state.
For example, the extracted Uinta crude oil is an export, but the eventual end products of gasoline and other products are then often imported into Utah. Additionally, there’s no accurate or easy way to track where energy produced in Utah is consumed because of the interconnected nature of the electrical grid.
“Electricity doesn't care if you have a border between Nevada and Utah,” said Emy Lesofski, director of the Utah Office of Energy Development.
To strengthen those regional bonds, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a tri-state energy compact with Wyoming and Idaho at the end of April.
“The West will lead the next chapter of energy abundance and American prosperity,” Cox said in a statement. “Our new compact strengthens our shared commitment to aggressively pursue more affordable, reliable energy across state lines.”
Spearheading that next chapter, according to the governor and other state leaders, is nuclear power.
Cox hopes to bring to life his Operation Gigawatt to double electricity generation in the state over the next decade. The goal is to meet the energy demands from a growing population and power-hungry AI data centers.
When it comes to today’s energy landscape, even with coal’s decline, the fossil fuel still accounts for 46% of the electricity that’s generated in Utah. In 2000, that number was 94%.
Since then, natural gas has increased its share to 34% and solar has grown from zero at the turn of the century to 14% today. Still, clean energy advocates say it’s past time to invest in renewables like wind and solar and they have been critical of the state’s “all of the above” approach to energy for not including more renewables.
For Lesofski, where the state chooses to invest will be shaped by demand for energy before anything else.
“What we believe is that we need a mix of all of these sources, because not one is a silver bullet to solve every problem that you could need to keep your society going using electricity,” she said. “I would say that we definitely don't have a bias against any source inherently, it's where does it make sense, and how does it affect the grid when it goes on there?
That likely means coal — at least for now — is still a valuable resource for Utah’s energy landscape.
“I think when [coal] power isn't needed because there's other sources to replace it,” she said. “Then that discussion may occur.”
