SALT LAKE CITY — Political leaders in Utah are exploring ways to break up Rocky Mountain Power and Pacificorp, pressing the energy giant to do commission a report on its feasibility.
It follows the utility's request for a 30% rate hike — now dropped to 18% — that invoked the wrath of Utah's Capitol Hill.
"I want to say thank you to Rocky Mountain Power for hearing the concerns of Utah's leaders and the citizens. You know, the rate hike that was proposed was way too much. I still think the 18% is too much," House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News in a recent interview.
Speaker Schultz, Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Governor Spencer Cox fired off a joint letter to Pacificorp that was obtained by FOX 13 News. In it, they ask Pacificorp CEO Cindy Crane and Rocky Mountain Power president Dick Garlish to "conduct a study and produce a report outlining the options, challenges, and opportunities associated with a corporate realignment of the utility."
"Specifically, consider and compare RMP’s existing corporate structure with how it would change in the event of a potential corporate realignment," the letter said.
It gave them a November deadline to prepare the report for the governor and the legislature. In a statement to FOX 13 News, Rocky Mountain Power said it will conduct the study.
"This is a significant conversation. There are some big ideas out there without a lot of concrete information," Garlish said. "The report will be an effort to conceptualize what some of those ideas could potentially look like and what the challenges and impacts an organizational realignment might create for customers, the company and the states we serve."
Rocky Mounain Power is a part of Pacificorp, which is owned by Berkshire Hathoway. It boasts it is the largest electric grid operator in the western United States. Rocky Mountain Power executives recently defended themselves before a legislative committee which also made a similar request as the governor and legislative leadership.
Speaker Schultz cautioned any formal decisions about Pacificorp and Rocky Mountain Power could be years away, but he would like to see things return "to the old Utah Power & Light" days. Some of the legislature's gripes about Rocky Mountain Power's rate hike stems from fees they believe are being passed on to cover the costs of policies and wildfire damages in other states.
The Utah State Legislature recently reworked its energy policies to favor an "all of the above" approach that legislative leaders insist ensures an abundant and affordable energy supply. But critics have accused lawmakers of favoring fossil fuels when they should focus more on renewable sources of energy in the face of climate change.
Currently, Utah enjoys some of the lowest electric rates in the nation. Rocky Mountain Power has attributed the proposed rate increase as necessary to cover costs for fuel, inflation, capital improvements and insurance premiums related to rising wildfire risks.
"We don't want the citizens of other states dictating policy here in the state of Utah," Speaker Schultz said. "And that's essentially what's happened over the last several years because they have a different policy system and goals in those other states than what we have in Utah and Wyoming and Idaho."
