Utahns deserve lower bills, not higher profits for PacifiCorp

Coal is stored outside the Hunter coal-fired power plant, operated by PacifiCorp, in Emery County on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Across the country, families are feeling the sting of rising electricity costs — and Utah is no exception. Over the past year, our electricity prices have spiked by nearly 15%, one of the steepest increases in the nation. Nearly one in four Utahns now struggle to pay their electric bill in full.

Yet, despite this growing affordability crisis, Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company, PacifiCorp — owned by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — continues to propose higher rates while clinging to expensive, polluting coal plants. Instead of helping Utah families, the company seems more interested in padding profits.

Every year, PacifiCorp must submit a long-term energy plan to the Utah Public Service Commission. This plan is meant to identify the most cost-effective and reliable energy sources to meet our state’s needs. Right now, the commission is reviewing PacifiCorp’s latest proposal — and Utahns should be paying attention.

Instead of choosing cheaper, cleaner energy, PacifiCorp plans to double down on costly coal and gas. That choice would lock Utah ratepayers into years of higher bills and missed opportunities.

Even PacifiCorp’s own modeling shows that retiring one of its dirtiest coal plants — the Hunter facility — by 2030 would save customers money. But rather than move forward with that plan, the company is keeping coal units running indefinitely. In 2024, it even sought a 30% rate increase for Utah customers, 85% of which was tied directly to high fossil fuel costs.

Meanwhile, PacifiCorp has already acknowledged that renewable energy — especially wind — drives prices down. In its 2023 Wyoming rate case, the company reported that wind projects reduced costs across its service territory by $343 million. That’s real savings, spread across millions of customers.

And yet, instead of seizing that opportunity, PacifiCorp is walking away from billions in federal clean energy investments that could lower costs and create jobs. With just one year left to take advantage of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy incentives, the company is choosing to forgo a 30% discount on new wind and solar projects — projects that could make our energy cheaper and our grid stronger.

According to a recent analysis by Utah Clean Energy, PacifiCorp’s reluctance to invest in renewables means leaving nearly $2 billion in federal funding on the table across its eastern service area. A recent Sierra Club report found that a high-renewable scenario would generate over $100 million in local tax revenue and create more than 20,000 new jobs right here in Utah — many in rural areas that need them most.

This isn’t just a climate issue. It’s a pocketbook issue, an economic development issue, and a fairness issue. Utahns shouldn’t have to foot the bill for PacifiCorp’s refusal to adapt.

Utah deserves that same reliability and savings.

As the Utah Public Service Commission considers whether it’ll approve PacifiCorp’s plan that benefits out-of-state shareholders, or push for a plan that serves Utahns, we have an opportunity to make our voices heard. Rocky Mountain Power customers can share their concerns by submitting comments to the commission, or even better, speak up in person at a public hearing on Oct. 29.

Our energy future doesn’t have to cost us more. In fact, it can cost us less — if we choose it.