Utah House Approves Measure Letting Utilities Recover Substation Costs Linked to Geneva Steel

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah House on May 22 approved Senate Bill 4,002, the "Industrial Electric Infrastructure Act," a measure that creates accounting and recovery rules allowing an electrical corporation to recover certain costs of a substation built to serve large industrial customers. The bill sponsor, Representative Sam Curtis, told colleagues the measure is intended to preserve roughly 1,100 jobs by enabling Geneva Steel and similar companies to upgrade operations where local power infrastructure is inadequate.

The bill inserts a new section of code (identified in floor debate as "5416101102") defining "covered expenses," eligible customers and a process for an electrical corporation to recover unpaid infrastructure costs through the Public Service Commission (PSC) and, ultimately, customer rates in Utah. Curtis described the portion of the substation specifically tied to a company’s need as "about $7 million" (speakers variously phrased the estimate between $7 million and $8…