Delta

Even though Utah produces just about as much energy as it consumes, the fact that it’s part of the much larger Western Interconnection grid means there’s a good chance that electricity that courses through Utah’s power lines, like these in Salt Lake City on Nov. 14, 2024, comes from out of state.

Yes, Utah still relies on coal, but it’s a shrinking part of the energy mix

Sean Higgins

Utah’s energy production has transformed from 94% coal in 2000 to 46% today. Investments in natural gas and renewables have been responsible for that change.

A ninth grader places her cellphone in to a phone holder as she enters class at Delta High School, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, in Delta, Utah. At the rural Utah school, there is a strict policy requiring students to check their phones at the door when entering every class. Each classroom has a cellphone storage unit that looks like an over-the-door shoe bag with three dozen smartphone-sized slots.

Education

Should schools ban smartphones to keep kids off them while they’re in class?

Associated Press

“We just need a space for six or seven hours a day where kids are not tethered to these devices,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told reporters in mid-February.

Celeste Maloy (center) stands with supporters at the 2023 special nominating convention at Delta High School in Delta, Utah, June 24, 2023. Maloy has served as Rep. Chris Stewart’s chief legal counsel and was endorsed by the outgoing congressman.

Politics & Government

Celeste Maloy is the Utah GOP’s convention nominee for the special CD2 primary

Saige Miller

“I’m your girl,” Maloy quipped after delegates in Utah’s 2nd Congressional District cast their special convention votes at Delta High School.

FILE - Wind turbines stand at a wind farm along the Montana-Wyoming state line on June 13, 2022. Wyoming and federal officials will formally kick off construction Tuesday, June 20, 2023, of a massive transmission line project to export wind power from Wyoming to southern California. But despite extensive wildlife studies, design tweaks and clearing of lengthy federal environmental reviews, the projects are now being built amid a more tepid attitude about wind power in Wyoming than when they were first proposed more than 15 years ago.

Business & Economy

Construction begins on power line that’ll cut through Utah as some fret over wind power

Associated Press

Wyoming and federal officials will formally kick off construction Tuesday of the massive TransWest Express transmission line project which will export wind power from Wyoming to southern California.

Rev. Michael Yoshii invites survivors, descendants and other participants to walk with intentional mindfulness during the walking pilgrimage to the site where James Wakasa was killed, April 22, 2023. Rev. Yoshii is a retired pastor of the Buena Vista United Methodist Church in Alameda, California and a Topaz descendant. Akemi Yamane Ina holds a large paper flower in the background.

Race, Religion & Social Justice

80 years later, descendants and survivors remember those who died at Topaz, Utah

Kristine Weller

A gathering of Topaz camp survivors and descendants have come to the Utah desert to remember James Wakasa and the 140 other Japanese Americans who died here.

This photo taken by the War Relocation Authority on April 19, 1943, captures the funeral of James Hatsuaki Wakasa, who was shot by a military sentry, in Topaz, Utah.

Race, Religion & Social Justice

How does Utah remember its history of Japanese American internment?

Kristine Weller

Eighty years ago, James Hatsuaki Wakasa was killed in a Japanese American internment camp in Utah. His story is one piece of Utah’s history with internment.

AP – Energy Transition Hydrogen Storage, Intermountain Power Agency spokesperson John Ward

Business & Economy

Can Delta, Utah’s green hydrogen project save both a coal town and the climate?

Associated Press

The seasonal storage project is one of several undertakings that could help determine how big a role hydrogen will play in providing reliable, carbon-free energy in the future.