Logan • Residents of this northern Utah city encouraged their leaders to be bold Tuesday night — and they succeeded.
Defying the expectations of more than 50 residents packed into their regular meeting, the Logan City Council voted against a contract that would have locked the city into purchasing fossil fuels for the next three decades.
The nearly $300 million deal would have helped pay for the construction of a natural gas plant in Power County, Idaho aimed at providing much-needed baseload power for the region. But the project sparked strong opposition from residents who opposed the city’s continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Logan was the last of 34 cities presented with this contract by the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems to make a decision — and the only one to say no. Other cities that signed on include Bountiful, Lehi, St. George, Brigham City, Payson and Murray.
“They heard people,” said Patrick Belmont, the vice chair of Logan’s Renewable Energy and Sustainability Advisory Board who has been vocal about his disapproval of the project, “and I think several of them went against the decision that they walked in that room with, because they were listening. That makes all the difference.”
Belmont said the board was not consulted before the project was brought to the council in December, nor was it consulted about a similar natural gas plant in Millard County designed to provide energy for high-demand days. The advisory board, which was created to make recommendations to the city’s power department on such decisions, found both projects deeply concerning, Belmont said.
In December, the council approved the Millard County project and delayed a decision on the Idaho project after they learned the advisory board was not involved. The approved contract leaves the city responsible for paying about $206 million over a 20-year period.
“I don’t want to look past the point that the $200 million peaker plant was approved without this kind of discussion,” Belmont said. “I think if we had tabled both of those, we may have turned away both of those. But you know what? This was a big win.”
At both Tuesday’s meeting and the December meeting, Mark Montgomery, the city’s director of light and power, warned if the council chose not to sign the contracts — which have no off-ramps — other options for the city’s energy needs might never arise. He noted he and his colleagues did not consult the advisory board because there simply wasn’t enough time.
“They haven’t met for a while,” Montgomery said. “It came kind of quickly.”
However, records obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune show the department had been working toward incorporating both projects into its portfolio for nearly a year. By September 13, Montgomery had documented the amount of power Logan needs to procure from the baseload project.
Logan has a considerable need for power, said the city’s light and power resource manager Yuqi Zhao. Even without considering the area’s rapid growth, the city will need to secure 35 megawatts of “reliable” power at a minimum in the near future. This is due to multiple of the city’s coal plants shutting down in the next decade.
While the city is interested in pursuing renewable energy sources, Zhao said the options on the market won’t meet the city’s needs.
“We need baseload power,” said Montgomery. “We could add hundreds of megawatts of solar, but if we can’t get it at night, we still need that baseload power, that dispatchable power.”
However, after hearing from 34 Logan residents opposed to the project for various reasons, council members said that they could not justify entering the contract. Many comments encouraged them to “be bold” and move toward renewable energy.
“I think if we approve another one of these projects,” said council member Ernesto Lopez, “it sends a message that we will continue to approve these projects, no matter how many come. I don’t want to send that message.”
Many residents expressed frustration that the city would even consider investing in fossil fuels for the next three decades, given the state of the world’s climate and air quality in Cache Valley. Several voiced concerns about the financial risks associated with the contract, given the volatile energy market. Others were troubled by the fact that the advisory board was not consulted before the projects were presented.
Advisory board member Paul Rogers said during Tuesday’s meeting that he had resigned from his position, citing the board’s input and expertise being ignored.
“I put in a lot of time and energy on a volunteer basis, and you don’t care,” said Rogers, a professor of Environment and Society at Utah State University. “Unless you give me some other reason why I should stick around and advise and help advise. You don’t care, and you don’t care about our integrity. So I really wonder about yours.”
Matt Hastings, the managing director for Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems, said the nonprofit organization plans to move forward with the project.
“Unfortunately, there are requirements for future markets coming along, and it will be a strain there based upon the decisions today, so that will be a financial impact,” Hastings said, “but we absolutely respect each individual city’s ability to choose their source of power.”
