Eagle Mountain needs energy.
The city west of Utah Lake has seen its population skyrocket in past years, making it Utah’s third fastest-growing city. And Google and Meta, Facebook’s parent company, are building energy-intensive data centers there.
To meet that demand, Eagle Mountain is considering allowing small nuclear reactors and other alternate power sources, like natural gas power plants and battery storage systems, to be built on some land in the city.
But when the ordinance came up for a vote Tuesday night, the city’s planning commission didn’t endorse it.
“There’s a big power need in Eagle Mountain, but it’s more of a statewide issue where we just don’t have the workforce here, we don’t have the supply chains here, we don’t have a lot of the infrastructure necessary to actually support small modular reactors,” said Evan Berrett, economic development director for the city.
“That doesn’t mean that we couldn’t at one time…but all those things have to be built up first,” he continued.
Though the planning commission ultimately voted against making the change, the Eagle Mountain City Council will make the final decision on the proposed ordinance.
Eagle Mountain’s proposal dovetails with the state’s recent push to develop infrastructure for nuclear power. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox in December said he wants to commit $20.4 million to that goal, and right before the new year, the state joined Texas and a nuclear energy start-up in suing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to loosen licensing requirements for small nuclear reactors.
But several Eagle Mountain residents told the city’s planning commission that they don’t want any nuclear reactors in their city today or in the future.
“Small modular reactors are scary for any type of population,” said Daniel Foreman, who lives in the city.
Why ‘open the door’ to small modular reactors and other energy sources?
Brandon Larsen, the city’s planning director, said Eagle Mountain officials started thinking about this change while working with Enyo Renewable Energy LLC. The company wants to build solar panels and battery storage in the city, but Larsen said “there were some code challenges in approving that application” at Tuesday’s planning commission meeting.
“Also, it’s just a time when there are so many things going on with energy,” Larsen said to the commission, “on a state, national and international level.”
Despite Enyo’s proposal for solar power and natural gas, the commissioners and meeting attendees mainly discussed the possibility of small nuclear reactors in Eagle Mountain.
Larsen explained that any energy proposal in Eagle Mountain, like building a small modular reactor, would require a lengthy process to approve. “What this proposal would do is basically open the door for us to receive applications for those uses,” he said.
Berrett, the city’s economic development director, said that commercial small modular reactors are likely years away from reality, and that Eagle Mountain doesn’t want to be a “test site” for the technology. He said the proposed change would serve a longer-term need.
Commissioner Brent Strong agreed: “We need to leave the door open to make a decision and let technology guide us,” he said.
“If we wait 20 years to start” the process for permitting nuclear and other energy infrastructure, Strong continued, “then we’re going to be behind the curve.”
Strong ultimately voted not to recommend the ordinance change to the city council.
Berrett and Larsen both said having several energy sources in Eagle Mountain could attract more commercial and industrial projects, providing tax revenue for the city and jobs for its growing population.
Commissioner Bryan Free supported the proposed change.
“I don’t want to live next to a [small modular reactor] either, and I don’t want you to live next to a [small modular reactor] or a battery storage plant or solar panel,” he said Tuesday, “but we do want to make sure we have those energy needs taken care of, so we’ve got to consider everything.”
‘Let’s wait until somebody else has borne the risk’
Several Eagle Mountain residents spoke against the proposed ordinance Tuesday night.
Shawn Wright, a grandfather and software engineer living in the city, questioned the state’s push for nuclear energy: “Does that mean that shortcuts could be made or certain standards don’t need to be met?”
“Why is Eagle Mountain so quick to raise its hand for this,” Wright continued, “when 10 to 15 years from now, this entire valley will be filled with people?”
Joy Rasmussen, another Eagle Mountain resident, joined Wright in asking the commission if small modular reactors are safe.
She voiced concerns about increased risk of cancer from living near a nuclear reactor. “If we’re really not ready, let’s wait 15 years to change the code,” Rasmussen said. “Let’s wait until somebody else has borne the risk.”
Carmen Valdez, a policy associate with the Salt Lake City-based Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, said she supports “more affordable and readily available energy projects” like solar and battery power over “costly, experimental [small modular reactor] technologies.”
And, Valdez added, the reactors still produce hazardous radioactive waste, which could be stored on-site in Eagle Mountain.
Larsen, the city’s planning director, noted potential issues with the water needed to cool small modular reactors and other projects.
“Nearly any power generation project in Eagle Mountain would need to cool without water,” he said.
“We only have so much water to go around that we are not intending to give away to a power generation facility,” Larsen continued. “We need that for other forms of commercial industrial development and residential development.”
The Eagle Mountain City Council could discuss the proposed ordinance disapproved by the planning commission as soon as next week.
