Amy Dominguez, amy.dominguez@sierraclub.org
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Today Rocky Mountain Power submitted its biennial Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) that foreshadows where the utility plans to get power for the next twenty years. Although the plan forecasts substantial and needed acquisition of new clean energy resources, Rocky Mountain Power stopped short of committing to the clean energy future the world’s leading scientists have made clear is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The company’s plan has coal units staying online past 2030 and converting several to gas units that contribute to climate change instead of prioritizing a just transition to clean energy. Some of the West’s worst polluting plants are owned by Rocky Mountain Power in Utah and Wyoming, poisoning the air and impacting public health as demonstrated in a 2022 study published by Sierra Club called the Dirty Truth Report.
In Utah, the plan introduced earlier closures for the massive and heavily polluting Hunter and Huntington coal plants, but the company still plans to operate these plants past 2030. Further, the company assumes it can meet emission reduction requirements with the installation of Selective Non-Catalytic Reduction (SNCR) equipment, a questionable assumption given the relatively low-effectiveness rate of SNCR. In Wyoming, Rocky Mountain Power is highlighting that most of its plants will no longer burn coal, but instead will be converted to run on gas – a decision that prolongs reliance on dirty and volatile fossil fuels.
In both states, the company intends to expose customers to a dangerous dependence on nuclear, demonstrated by plans to install a nuclear facility in Kemmerer by 2030, backed by Bill Gates’ TerraPower, and similar nuclear facilities at the Hunter and Huntington coal plant sites following retirement
“Rocky Mountain Power introduces nuclear as a hero solution essential to the transition of its coal fleet, but largely ignores its connection to uranium mining and milling here in Utah, devastators that carry significant health impacts for communities while contributing to the climate crisis,” said Hunter Warren, a volunteer with Sierra Club’s Utah Needs Clean Energy group. “Utah doesn’t have time to waste, and the promise of nuclear delays putting real solutions to work for the climate. To make the necessary strides to cut pollution, we need a plan that commits to transitioning to wind, solar, and storage for clean energy by 2030.”
“The Integrated Resource Plan that Rocky Mountain Power introduced falls short on reliably planning for the direction our country is moving toward in the transition from fossil-powered energy when it should be preparing and strengthening coal communities by implementing realistic, long-term solutions that would offer stability and growth,” said Rob Joyce, Energy Organizer for the Sierra Club in Wyoming. “Communities deserve to be able to plan for a future on a foundation of security that just isn’t reflected in the current IRP. It’s absolutely necessary to advocate for a plan that commits to serving its customers while optimizing community benefits.”
The draft plan was released in March and the final plan has now been submitted to the Company’s regulators in Utah and Wyoming where it will be open to public comment before final decisions are made later in the year.
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The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.