Nation’s Largest Public Outreach shows Utahns want a clean, affordable and resilient energy supply
Envision Utah’s Your Utah, Your Future findings show residents want to be self-sufficient for energy through natural gas and renewable sources.
SALT LAKE CITY (Aug 6., 2015) — Findings from nearly 53,000 residents surveyed as part of Envision Utah’s Your Utah, Your Future campaign indicated Utahns want to protect themselves from price and supply shocks in energy by shifting to natural gas, as well as renewable sources such as wind and solar. This strategy would reduce emissions from energy production while keeping energy costs low, a key in attracting business to the state and maintaining a low cost of living.
“Utahns want cleaner power generation,” Robert Grow, President & CEO of Envision Utah, said, “but they also want to keep costs low. Utahns want to strike a balance.”
As the state shifts away from coal, Utahns said they want to have more renewables, but rather than relying on expensive energy storage to maintain reliability, they’d rather use a base of natural gas. Nuclear power was not a popular option.
Utah has an abundance of energy sources, but all scenarios indicated Utahns would like to decrease air pollutants, in addition to the following findings:
· 43% of Utahns surveyed wanted to keep household energy costs low while, at the same time, transitioning from coal to natural gas and increasing renewable energy sources.
· 36% of Utahns surveyed would like the state to produce electricity from a balance of natural gas, renewable and nuclear power.
· 23% of Utahns wanted to increase renewables to more than half, which would require expensive energy storage.
· Utahns were also willing to use more land for renewable energy sources and natural gas wells, as long as usage was sensitive to environmental concerns.
· Residents said they’re very willing to have more energy efficient homes and businesses, typically at a higher up-front cost but with an overall savings.
Envision Utah’s Your Utah, Your Future campaign became the nation’s largest public outreach effort, gathering nearly 53,000 Utah voices and opinions through a two month online survey that was cross-checked with a Dan Jones random sample survey. The study identified eleven key issues: agriculture, air quality, recreation, disaster resilience, public lands, transportation and communities, housing and cost of living, education, energy, jobs and economy and water. For more information, visit http://envisionutah.org/.
