ELECTIONS, POLITICS, & GOVERNMENT
Legislature discusses how to split higher energy costs
Jan 23, 2025, 9:00 AM | Updated: 1:19 pm
FILE: Members of the Utah House of Representatives stand for the Pledge of Allegiance in their chamber at the Utah State Capitol in Salt Lake City on the first day of the legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. Utah lawmakers are considering multiple amendments to the Utah Constitution, one resolution HJR5 secured the Utah electoral votes. (Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
(Isaac Hale/Deseret News)
Listen live at 2:05 p.m.: Energy bills this legislative session
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill moving through the House right now could change who foots the bill when utility companies see higher energy costs.
The Electricity Rate Amendments bill would do a few things, including eliminating the Energy Balancing Account, or EBA. These were discussed at the House Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee on Wednesday.
Energy costs passed on to customers
The EBA was instituted in 2011. Under the EBA, an energy company can make customers pay the difference if it sees a big increase in energy costs, as long as the company is prudent.
“What it does is it allows for the utility provider to recover variances between estimates and actual in net power costs and fuel costs, so long as the company was prudent in incurring those costs,” said James Owen, Rocky Mountain Power vice president for environmental, fuels and mining.
Owen was at the committee hearing to argue for keeping the EBA.
Owen gave the example of when Rocky Mountain Power lost one of its coal sources in 2022. The loss made the cost of coal from other mines go up.
He said it was not the utility company’s fault they lost the mine or that coal prices increased as a result. Passing those costs along was appropriate, Owens said.
Prioritizing the ratepayer
“A growing share of the companies’ revenues has passed through to ratepayers without any utility risk,” said the bill’s author, Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Salt Lake City.
Albrecht said his legislation would require the Public Service Commission to prioritize Utah’s ratepayer interests when allocating utility costs.
Owen clarified during the hearing that Rocky Mountain Power operates in a handful of other states. Regardless of what state it occurs in, when higher costs come about, the company presents those rate increases to all the states in which it operates.
“The allocation provisions in this bill should help the Public Service Commission ensure that our ratepayers are not paying for other states’ policies,” Albrecht said.
The House committee agreed. It passed the bill on to the next step, with only one vote in opposition.
Heather Peterson is a reporter and producer for KSL NewsRadio. She also produces Utah’s Noon News.
Related: Gov. Cox calls for focus on energy this legislative session
