Electricity

How rural southwest Utah is proving the potential of renewable geothermal energy

David Condos

Getting more power from geothermal energy could help reduce fossil fuel emissions and curb climate change. Recent breakthroughs in southwest Utah are showing that this renewable energy source could have the potential to work almost anywhere.

Francisco Valenzuela installing a support structure at the Northern Nevada Laborers Training Center in Storey County

Business & Economy

Nevada shows states how to build workforce for solar energy boom

Kaleb Roedel

Phasing out fossil fuels requires a lot of clean energy infrastructure like solar farms. And one sun-soaked part of the Mountain West is grabbing a share of that green gold rush by retraining workers to handle the growth.

Solar panels behind the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs complex, July 18, 2023. With Rocky Mountain Power expected to have 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy in its portfolio by 2032, Utah communities are looking to tap into that potential.

Business & Economy

Utah’s Community Renewable Energy Program is projected to come to fruition in 2024

Sean Higgins

So far, it’s been a yearslong path for Utah communities to reach their goal of net-100% renewable energy by 2030.

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.

This Sept. 20, 2022 image shows a sign in Navajo on the fence surrounding the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico. The closure of the coal-fired power plant and the adjacent mine is resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue for a local school district that serves mostly Native American students.

Health, Science & Environment

The US shift away from coal hits a Navajo Nation community in New Mexico

Associated Press

The closure of the San Juan Generating Station follows years of legal battles by environmentalists and mounting regulatory pressures aimed at curbing pollution and climate change.

A view of Lake Powell, which stradles the border of Utah and Arizona, from NASA's Landsat satellite, Aug. 27, 2021.

Health, Science & Environment

The consequences are dire if the Colorado River states can’t come together on big water cuts

Associated Press

Despite widespread recognition of the crisis, the states missed a deadline this week to propose cuts. And the government stopped short of imposing cuts on its own.

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.