Council told attorney advised against pursuing out-of-territory power hookup

Unidentified Speaker 2, a council member, told the Meadowtown Town Council that the town’s attorney had reviewed a request to provide electric service to property currently in Dixie Power’s service territory and cited Utah Code 10-8-14. The attorney’s view, Speaker 2 said, was that the process is “so cumbersome” and advised the council not to proceed without careful review.

Under the sequence described by Speaker 2, Meadowtown would first need permission from Dixie Power to serve the lot. If Dixie Power granted permission, the town would then have to request approval from the Utah Public Service Commission before the council could act. “If all three of those are yeses, then it comes back to us, and we could do that,” Speaker 2 said, summarizing the chain of approvals. The speaker emphasized that at each step Dixie Power or the Public Service Commission could deny the request.

Council members reacted to the attorney’s advice. Unidentified Speaker 1 called the legal path “cut and dried,” saying the number of legal and procedural steps made the idea unappealing. Unidentified Speaker 3 said they would not vote on such a measure and warned that offering connections to properties that had previously been denied could raise fairness issues unless earlier applicants were offered the same opportunity.

Speaker 2 clarified the council’s immediate procedural threshold: to bring the matter to a council vote someone would need to make a motion and another member would need to second it; without a motion and second, the item would remain in its current status. No motion to proceed was recorded during the meeting.

The council did not take formal action on the request at this meeting. The matter will remain pending until staff provides additional information or until a council member moves to place it on a future agenda for formal consideration.