Against a backdrop of “drill baby drill,” how does clean energy survive, and is the United States of America properly invested?

Utah is well known for using a variety of methods and approaches to energy generation. Beaver and Millard counties in central Utah are a corridor for wind farms, solar plants and geothermal exploration. Those projects have garnered international attention.

But the Beehive State still relies heavily on fossil fuels as well.

The latest sustainable method the state is interested in pursuing is nuclear energy alternatives.

The new news

Millions of Americans across all 50 states have incorporated clean energy technologies into their lives, according to Clean Energy Across America,” a new report unveiled Wednesday by Environment America Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group. The report details that growth and recommends tips and policies to help more Americans adopt clean energy, even as federal tax credits phase out.

“You cannot put a lid on solar,” said Johanna Neumann, senior director of Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy, Environment America Research & Policy Center.

The group has dissected the numbers to produce a dashboard: The state of renewable energy, which tracks the 10-year growth trends of six key clean energy technologies by state.

Clean Energy Across Americafocuses on the number of individual Americansby state who have adopted technologies such as electric vehicles, solar panels and home battery storage systems that have made their lives cleaner and better.

“Across the country, people have invested their own time and money to install solar panels on their roofs, put EVs in their driveways, make their homes energy efficient, or buy clean energy from their utilities,” said Emily Rusch, vice president and senior director of state offices of Environment America Research and Policy Center.

“Clean energy adoption in America is a movement hiding in plain sight.”

Utah, despite its reputation as a fossil fuel hungry state, has embraced solar.

The 14th annual National Solar Jobs Census by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, an independent nonprofit organization, found the United States added 15,564 solar jobs in 2023, when there were 279,447 solar workers, the highest ever recorded.

In Utah, solar jobs increased by 4% with 325 jobs added, for a total of 7,634 jobs statewide.

A difficult dance

Last year, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced the launch of Operation Gigawatt, a plan to double energy in Utah in the next decade.

It is a bold goal, and not without its critics, but Cox has put all his cards on the table.

Neumann said Utah is primed for energy innovation.

“The sun shows up every day for free,” she said, adding that Utah is among the top ranking states for its solar capacity.

According to the latest statistics, there are 78,617 solar panels in Utah. That equates to 224 panels for every 10,000 people.