To accommodate an expected half a million new residents in the next decade, policymakers have undertaken a ‘power surge’ of policy and investment, aimed at securing the ample, affordable energy resources that support Utah’s quality of life. The 2025 General Session underscored this urgency, with lawmakers considering nearly 30 energy-related bills and allocating a $10.0 million state investment towards nuclear power development. The figures below describe energy related funding during the last five general sessions, and broadly describe the categories into which these investments fall:
As mentioned, the largest single investment during the 2025 General Session was for nuclear power permitting and development. In the graph below, the category of ‘generation facilities’ includes funding related to the Intermountain Power Project and also permitting for a nuclear facility. While the San Rafael Energy Lab (a state owned facility) is used for research, it was separated from funding awarded to higher education institutions and research grants. More information about how items were categorized is available in this summary list.
The federal government has also provided substantial resources in recent years for projects like grid resilience, with $105.5 million in federal funds appropriated to the Office of Energy Development for FY 2026. However, the future of these federal programs remains to be seen.
The funding mentioned above has primarily been appropriated to the Office of Energy Development (which is housed in the Department of Natural Resources). In addition to increasing the funding for power related topics in the 2025 General Session, the legislature added several new entities to assist with executing policies related to Utah’s energy future. H.B. 249, “Nuclear Power Amendments” and H.B. 70, “Decommissioned Asset Disposition Amendments” created the Nuclear Consortium, Utah Energy Council, Utah Advanced Nuclear and Energy Institute, remodeled the Utah Energy Research Board, and repealed the Decommissioned Asset Disposition Authority. The graphic below shows how each of the energy related entities are connected and who they are required to report to, with the green boxes signifying programs under the Department of Natural Resources.
The grey sheep of this chart is the Utah Advanced Nuclear and Energy Institute, which is defined in statute as an agreement between Utah’s higher education community and the Idaho National Laboratory.
While the state has made significant strides in the last few years to reimagine Utah’s power landscape through incentives, improved regulatory framework, and research, it’s likely that energy will be in the legislative foreground for the foreseeable future.