It’s official: power customers in Summit County will have a “new choice,” as county sustainability director Emily Quinton put it.

“All eligible Rocky Mountain Power customers within our unincorporated boundaries will have a new option for choosing clean energy right through their bill,” she told the Summit County Council April 15. “By investing in clean energy, the program will help to meet our growing energy demands while keeping power reliable and meeting those demands with non-polluting sources.”

At the meeting, the county council unanimously approved the what’s known as the Community Clean Energy Program. That automatically enrolls everyone with Rocky Mountain Power service in the unincorporated county.

Residents will pay an extra $4 monthly for the program; businesses will see an estimated 5% added to their bill.

The funds will pay for renewable energy construction. The new infrastructure is supposed to offset demand in Summit County and 18 other participating Utah cities and counties.

Councils in Park City, Francis, Oakley and Coalville have until early June to vote to join the program.

Any customer in a participating city or county can opt out for free within the first six months of the program’s launch.

Low-income residents are exempt from the extra fees, including a termination fee for opting out.

Environmental advocates closely watched this year’s state legislative session as a measure in House Bill 238 would’ve made the program opt-in, like Rocky Mountain’s existing Blue Sky program.

Bill sponsor Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Bicknell, reversed course after outcry from environmentalists. Summit County leaders have previously noted that opt-in programs “virtually all fail.”

Albrecht told a Senate committee this year he “listens to constituents,” and groups like Utah Clean Energy rejoiced.

“A lot of these communities, Salt Lake, Park City and others, were concerned about the image that might be created with the 2034 Olympics, whether we’re serving ‘black electrons’ or ‘green electrons,’” Albrecht added.

Quinton said state lawmakers previously changed the clean energy program to keep rates low. They walked back strict requirements to offset all participating customer’s energy use.

“While it is no longer required by state law, the communities that are involved are still feeling connected to the goals that they set back in 2019 to work towards net 100% renewable energy for participating customers,” she said.

Summit County councilmembers praised the renewable energy program before voting to approve it April 15. Quinton said past county leaders were instrumental in getting the program passed in 2019.

Councilmember Roger Armstrong credited former colleague Glenn Wright, who he said was “pounding the table to make that happen.”

“Considering the crazy world that we’re living in right now, on some of the policies moving away from renewables to more oil exploration and wars over oil,” Councilmember Tonja Hanson said. “I think it’s really important that we take action on this.”

The program’s estimated launch date is later this year or early 2027.

Summit County is a financial supporter of KPCW.