Council discusses joining state renewable-energy program; ordinance due June 2

Council members reviewed a state-level order and local implications of joining the Utah Renewal Communities (URC) community-choice aggregation program.

A councilmember said the Public Service Commission on March 4 "issued an order approving the utility agreement, with modifications," and explained that participating communities must adopt an ordinance to enroll. The councilmember described the program as an opt-out model that would add roughly $4 per month to residential bills, with about $3.88 of that amount credited back to customers who qualify for low-income assistance such as LIHEAP.

Members discussed outreach plans: the town will coordinate with communications partners, Pivot Power, Grand County and Moab, and with local social-service organizations and United Way to notify residents and ensure eligible low-income households can enroll for bill credits. The council also asked staff to place the proposed ordinance on a May agenda so the council could act before the stated June 2 deadline.

Council members raised practical questions about residents already enrolled in other voluntary programs (for example, Blue Sky) and whether they could switch into URC; staff said they would follow up with the utility and report back. No ordinance was adopted at the meeting; staff will prepare ordinance language and outreach materials for a future meeting.

The next steps are for legal counsel and staff to review the modified utility agreement, prepare an ordinance for council consideration, and coordinate public outreach ahead of the June 2 deadline.