Energy to get high-level focus

The Utah Energy Office may soon be a thing of the past, but a new energy post is positioned to take its place within the governor's office, where greater attention will be placed on energy economic development.

New legislation, sponsored by Sen. Thomas Hatch, R-Panguitch, eliminates the Utah Energy Office and moves some of its programs and funds to other state agencies. The bill, SB199, has passed the Senate and is waiting for a vote in the House.

Chris Roybal, senior economic development adviser for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., said Friday that an energy policy director will be hired to focus on economic development within the state's energy industries. An advisory board also will be established to drive new policy.

The Utah Energy Office has a staff of 12 people but has had up to 16 full-time positions. Roybal said roughly six of the 16 positions will be eliminated.

"We think in Utah that there's tremendous opportunity within the energy sector to create jobs and benefit the state," Roybal said. "With it being in the governor's office, we think that it will be given better attention, a higher level of focus and that we'll be more effective in getting things done. As we see it now, there is no state energy policy within state government."

Glade Sowards, an energy analyst with the Utah Energy Office, said a number of programs currently in place have not been addressed in the proposed legislation. "I think that's for the governor and the Legislature to sort out how they're going to handle those," Sowards said. "I'll have to defer to them on that."

Yet groups like Utah Clean Energy and Utah Clean Cities, which in the past have partnered with the state energy office, are less sure where the restructuring leaves them.

Beverly Miller, director of Utah Clean Cities, said the governor's office has not yet said whether the Clean Cities program will remain an active partner in promoting clean fuel vehicle programs in the state.

"It (SB199) really came out of the blue," Miller said. "We have concerns. No, we have not been part of the discussion. We can only imagine what's going on. We're kind of out in the dark."

Others, like Scott Gutting, president of Energy Strategies, a Salt Lake-based consulting firm, support SB199 and thinks a state energy policy, including emphasis on renewable resources, can lead to new technologies and new jobs.

The Utah Energy Office has historically focused on both energy conservation and energy economic development.