Kennecott and Rocky Mountain Power ask Utah PSC to approve new electric service agreement effective Jan. 1, 2026

At a hearing before the Utah Public Service Commission on docket 23-035-51, Kennecott Utah Copper and Rocky Mountain Power asked the commission to approve a stipulated settlement and a new Energy Service Agreement, or ESA, that the parties said would take effect Jan. 1, 2026, and run through 2032.

Kennecott Utah Copper’s manager of energy strategy, Steven C. Sands, told the commission the companies negotiated the ESA to provide long-term certainty and to ensure Kennecott “pays its full cost of service.” He asked the commission to approve the stipulation and the new ESA, saying approval “will resolve all current disputes between Kennecott and Rocky Mountain Power regarding the provision of electric service.”

The Utah Division of Public Utilities and the Office of Consumer Services reviewed the stipulation and the ESA and recommended approval. Annette Orton, a utility analyst for the division, said the division finds the ESA “just, reasonable, and in the public interest” and that it complies with Utah code and prior commission guidelines. David (Bela) Vostag, a utility analyst for the Office of Consumer Services, said the office also concludes the settlement and ESA are “just and reasonable in result and in the public interest,” but asked the commission to require more analysis and modeling to accompany future proposed special-contract ESAs to improve transparency.

Rocky Mountain Power’s senior vice president of resource strategy and development, Craig Eller, said the replacement agreement would move Kennecott closer to covering its full cost of service and that the company believes the ESA is “just, reasonable, and in the public interest.” Eller said the ESA contains confidential information filed through the commission’s confidential portal and offered to answer questions about its contents in a confidential setting.

At the start of the hearing the commission’s designated presiding officer, Michael Hammer, verbally granted a stipulated motion admitted earlier allowing the parties’ prefiled testimony and exhibits to be entered into the record without additional in‑court moves. Kennecott called Steven C. Sands as a witness; Rocky Mountain Power called Craig Eller. The division called Annette Orton; the Office of Consumer Services called Bela Vostag. Each witness was available for cross-examination; no substantive cross-examination questions were recorded on the public transcript.

Office of Consumer Services analyst Vostag noted the terms of the ESA are complex and that it is difficult to predict exactly how they will function in practice. The office recommended approval of the settlement now on the record but asked the commission to require that future special-contract filings include accompanying analysis and modeling to aid review and transparency.

The hearing transcript records requests that the commission issue an order approving the stipulation and adopting the stipulation’s terms, but the transcript does not record a commission decision or vote during the proceeding. The hearing concluded with no final ruling on the record.

Details from the record: - Docket: 23-035-51 (conditions of electric service by Rocky Mountain Power to Kennecott) - Stipulation and confidential Energy Service Agreement filed 12/13/2024 (as noted in testimony) - Proposed ESA effective date: Jan. 1, 2026 - Proposed ESA term through Dec. 31, 2032 (testimony states through 2032) - The ESA was filed confidentially; Rocky Mountain Power offered confidential responses to questions about its content

The commission has not issued an order on the record at the hearing. Parties requested commission approval; the Division of Public Utilities and Office of Consumer Services stated their recommendations in favor of approval with the Office requesting additional modeling for future filings.