Two Utah lawmakers have ties to nuclear plant

Two influential Utah state representatives are involved in a project to build a nuclear power plant in Utah. But they say that involvement does not conflict with their work on an interim legislative committee considering legislation that would help utilities build nuclear power plants.

Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, is an owner of Transition Power Development, a private equity group that has signed an agreement to secure water rights for a nuclear power plant. If approved by water regulators, the plant's enormous water demands would be supplied by the Kane County Water Conservancy District, whose executive director is Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.

Transition Power has agreed to pay the conservancy district $1 million a year for almost 30,000 acre-feet of water once the plant starts producing power, and lesser amounts before then. The private equity group has already paid $10,000.

Noel is chairman of the Legislature's Public Utilities and Technology Committee, and Tilton is vice chairman. Also, both men are members of the Public Utilities and Technology Interim Committee, which is co-chaired by Noel.

The interim committee has heard extensive testimony for and against nuclear power in its July and September meetings.

As first disclosed by the industry news service SNL Energy and verified by Tilton and Noel, Transition Power is considering building a nuclear power plant in Utah. Tilton told the Deseret Morning News that the plant's site is not confirmed.

But Transition Power has already paid the district $10,000 upon signing the water agreement. The private equity group will pay $100,000 annually for five years until construction starts. Then, the payment becomes $500,000 a year until power generation begins, when it jumps to $1 million annually.

The payment would be for water needed by the nuclear power plant. The facilities use a huge amount of water, when fuel rods heat water to steam, which in turn spins huge turbines to generate electrical power.

A bill to assist utilities in building nuclear power plants was discussed extensively by the Public Utilities Interim Committee on July 18 and Sept. 19.

In last month's meeting, when speaking about the bill, Tilton said, "First, I ought to disclose that I do have business dealings in energy and specifically in power-generation projects. I'm not sure if some people know that or don't know that." He did not use the word "nuclear" or refer to nuclear power in the disclosure.

Tilton said he could not support the bill as written because it lacks some consumer protections. "We have some real needs" concerning power, he said. "Alternatives should be in place."