TICABOO, Utah — There’s no coal-fired power plants or wind turbines in Ticaboo. Instead, it’s a series of diesel generators keeping the lights on.
“It's basically… What?… 1930s, 1940s technology,” said John Motley, who maintains the electrical grid for Ticaboo.
“A typical power bill can range anywhere from $300 to $700 a month,” he added.
Those bills pay for the diesel and the cost of maintaining the generators.
Ticaboo sits in southern Utah away from any other electricity grids. The population hits about 300 in the summer when tourists come to play at Lake Powell. The electric bills in Ticaboo are a lot more than what other Utahns pay, or will pay even if a proposed rate increase takes effect.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration shows Utah’s average homeowner paid $87 a month in 20-23, the lowest in the country.
Rocky Mountain Power provides electricity to about three-fourths of Utah’s geography and the majority of its residents. The company says the average residential customer pays $121 a month in Utah. The utility is now asking for an 18.1% rate increase to take effect in February. The Utah Public Service Commission is weighing the request.
“Compared to us,” Motley said, “what people pay, we do chuckle.”
Tying Ticaboo into a larger utility would be expensive.
“The nearest place to us to tie in was Hanksville,” Motley said, “which is 60 miles away, and the price tag was set at $1 million per mile for power lines.”
Motley said Ticaboo would like to go to solar power and is looking at grants and other options to make that happen.
“People (in Ticaboo) are more conscious of the power that they do use,” Motley said. “I don't think anybody goes without. We've called it the price for paradise.”
