Newly reelected Gov. Cox says housing, energy are priorities
Nov 6, 2024, 8:30 PM
Gov. Spencer Cox talks to members of the media after the gubernatorial election was called for Cox outside of the Governor’s Mansion in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — Not even 24 hours after his win, newly re-elected Utah governor Spencer Cox laid out his second-term priorities.
Listen to the full conversation here.
The first, he said, is affordable housing.
“This is not just a Utah thing, but I do believe Utah can solve this problem,” he said.
How Gov. Cox plans to create more affordable homes
The Cox administration is working closely with local communities and developers, he said, to add more starter homes to the market.
In this scenario, a starter home would cost less than $400,000.
“We just broke ground on 275 starter homes in northern Utah that will all be under $400,000,” he said. “We’re working to get that price point down to where families can afford it.”
How does Cox plan to keep homes under $400,000 while working with independent contractors?
He said he plans to work with banks to help small- and medium-sized builders get low-interest construction loans.
“If they can get them, they’re getting them at 10%, 12% interest,” he said. “We’re offering 3% interest on construction loans … if 60% of the [housing] project is under $400,000.”
Utah leading the way
Utah is the first state in the country to offer such a low interest rate to builders, the governor said. And the project is still rolling out. But Cox said they are working with banks and credit unions to “get this right.”
“This is good for Utah because we’re getting interest back on this … The payoff is down the road for taxpayers,” he said. “We talked to economists. [They] believe this will have an 18 or 19% return on investment for taxpayers in Utah.”
He calls this a “savings account” for the state, and a “game changer” for smaller developers.
Energy crisis
Cox said another second-term priority will be addressing the energy crisis.
In early October, Cox announced Operation Gigawatt. It’s a plan to “double energy production in this country over the next 10 years,” he said.
He says he believes this kind of plan can bring down the cost of energy. He said it could also increase energy production, and store energy.
“Utah is innovating in this space as well,” he said. He added that the state is going to be hearing a lot more from him and his fellow “western governors” about adding more nuclear facilities into the Western U.S.
