Brigham City Council approves feasibility study with UAMPS for city-owned natural-gas peaking plant

Brigham City Council voted to authorize staff to begin a feasibility study with the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) and to move forward with bond counsel and related agreements for a Brigham City–owned natural gas peaking plant near Lehi. The motion to start the feasibility and financing work passed after council discussion and a roll-call vote.

City staff and outside consultants told the council the plant would give Brigham City on-demand generation to fill short, high-cost gaps in the city’s power portfolio and reduce sharp price exposure when a five‑year market contract (referred to in presentations as the Shell contract) ends in March 2027. “We’re at a point now where it’s a critical priority,” Tom Cotter, the city presenter, told the council, describing recent months when market prices spiked and drove up Brigham City’s purchased-power costs.

The council heard technical and financial details during a multi-hour presentation. Staff described an initial facility concept with one building containing six bays and three installed generator sets (each about 2.5 megawatts),…