Report says Utah, Northwest best poised to make change to clean energy

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is among seven regional states identified in a new analysis as the best-positioned area in the country to transition to clean energy within 40 years.

Prepared for the nonpartisan Civil Society Institute by Synapse Energy Economics, the report said lack of national congressional action on climate and energy issues has opened the door for regional initiatives that could produce cost savings and a cleaner environment over the long term.

"Public opinion needs to be mobilized away from oil, away from reliance on coal and nuclear power," said Grant Smith, a senior adviser with the institute.

Smith said that just as the public was loath to consider the elimination of horse and buggy as the primary means of transportation and slow to transition to the idea of cars, Americans need to get past the "business as usual" mentality that keeps them reliant on dirty and costly energy resources.

The analysis, released Wednesday, said Utah, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and much of Nevada have the technological capability and an extensive portfolio of renewable resources that make it easier for them to make a transition than it will be for the rest of the country.

Under its technical scenario, the report proposes to "retire" all coal-fired electricity by 2050 and reduce nuclear power by one quarter.

At the same time, the scenario contemplates:

 Gas-fired generation falling by 74 percent relative to 2010 levels.

 Wind energy increasing to become 27 percent of generation.

 The region adding 1,800 megawatts of geothermal capacity, providing 6 percent of energy in 2050.

 Hydrogeneration increasing modestly due to dam upgrades. No new dams are anticipated.

"In the transition's scenario, aggressive energy efficiency in the Northwest pushes down demand, and the region develops ample wind, geothermal and biomass resources. Because the Northwest has a relatively small amount of coal and nuclear capacity and an extensive renewable resource base, the transition is much easier there than in many other regions," the report said.

In a Utah-based teleconference outlining key aspects of the report, Geoff Keith with Synapse Energy Economics said regional coalitions such as the Western Climate Initiative to which Utah belongs serve as a blueprint for change.

"It absolutely makes sense to have groups like the Western Climate Initiative. Those type of regional climate initiatives are our only hope at this point for our states to lead and (Washington, D.C.) to follow," Keith said. "They can be extremely successful in the absence of federal action."

Both Keith and Smith concede the report is strictly a technical analysis and does not address the public policy changes and political will that would be required to accomplish the scenario.

"There certainly need to be policies driving us along this path," Smith said.

Those policy changes would constitute a significant shift in Utah, which overwhelmingly relies on coal and natural gas for its energy production and consumption needs.

The analysis can be read at www.civilsocietyinstitute.org.

e-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com

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