(Welcomia / Getty Images/IStockphoto) Wind Turbines at Spanish Fork, Utah at sunset.
A program to transition 18 Utah cities and counties to 100% net renewable energy by 2030 is moving forward. The total would have been higher but several local governments backed out. Despite fewer participants, officials still say it still could be one of the largest efforts to reduce emissions in state history.
The program is expected to bring “several hundred” megawatts of renewable energy to the grid, according to Christopher Thomas, a climate & energy program manager for Salt Lake City. The communities would not run completely on clean energy, he said, but pool their resources in order to build enough renewable sources to offset their energy demand.