A bill based on three years of negotiations by Park City, Summit County, Salt Lake City and Rocky Mountain Power failed at its first hearing at the state Legislature Wednesday, but after some updates to the bill language and discussion with committee members, HB 411 will see another day at the Capitol.
House Bill 411, the Community Renewable Energy Act, failed to make its way out of the House Public Utilities Committee Wednesday, after the committee deadlocked on a 5 to 5 vote. The bill would create a framework for communities—inspired by Park City, Summit County and Salt Lake City—to work with Rocky Mountain Power and the state Public Service Commission towards the goal of being a 100% renewable energy community by 2030.
Members of the committee applauded the forward-thinking nature of the communities’ sustainability goals, but some worried about automatically including residents in the program—unless they specifically choose to opt out. After the city or county has passed an ordinance and Rocky Mountain Power has made customers aware of the cost of participating in the program, ratepayers can exclude themselves from it—though they may have to pay a termination fee after a certain amount of time. Brigham City Republican Rep. Joel Ferry moved to hold the bill through interim to study the question of opt-in versus opt-out.
"My concern with this, and the reason I made the motion, is that concern with the process," Ferry said. "Not necessarily what you’re trying to accomplish—I think it’s a noble goal, and I think it’s a great direction to head—but this process of, as we’ve stated over and over again, of this opt in versus opt out and providing the citizens with the proper notification so that they have that ability."
That motion failed on a tie vote, as did the motion to favorably pass the bill out of committee.
Park City Mayor Andy Beerman said it wasn’t the outcome they hoped for, but he, bill sponsor Rep. Steve Handy and Summit County Councilmember Glenn Wright discussed HB 411 with Ferry in the hall for half an hour after the vote. Beerman said the opt-out language is essential to the bill.
“We’ve looked at that over the years, we’ve been in negotiations, and this doesn’t work, it doesn’t have the certainty to build that utility if it is an opt-in policy," Beerman said. "That’s something we can’t budge on, but maybe there’s some additional language or additional public process that they’d feel more comfortable with.”
As of Wednesday evening, HB411 is scheduled for a second hearing in the House Public Utilities Committee Thursday at 4 p.m.
