energy
Energy has wide-ranging impacts on Utah’s prosperity and quality of life. Energy expenses contribute to Utahns’ cost of living and their ability to save money or spend it on other needs. Air quality and environmental health are affected by energy production and consumption. When it comes to energy, Utahns want to balance diversity in supply, cleaner sources, higher efficiency, and lower costs. Utah is an energy-rich state. The state has reserves of natural gas and coal, as well as the potential to generate renewable energy supplies from solar, wind, and geothermal sources.
Through the Your Utah, Your Future survey, more Utahns chose the scenario emphasizing low cost and a reliance on natural gas, and using substantially more renewable energy than today. Utahns are willing to have a diverse energy portfolio that balances all the benefits and concerns of energy production. They are willing to use more of Utah’s land for renewable energy production and for natural gas wells as long as it’s done in an environmentally responsible manner. However, Utahns are not willing to have more air pollution and CO2 emissions, and they are very unwilling to be vulnerable to energy supply disruptions or price spikes caused by an over reliance on a single energy source. They are also hesitant to incur significant energy storage costs resulting from much higher renewable energy production. Lastly, Utahns are unwilling to accept nuclear energy because of the risks of accidents and waste storage.
Learn more about Your Utah, Your Future vision for the future of energy →