Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Leavitt vows to block high‑level nuclear waste in Utah, urges federal fixes to electricity market
Summary
Governor Leavitt told the joint convention he will oppose placing high‑level nuclear waste in Utah, endorsed legislation to ban companies' use of state resources, and urged federal regulators to restore order to western electricity markets with temporary cost‑plus wholesale pricing.
SALT LAKE CITY — In his State of the State, Governor Leavitt took a firm stance against the storage or disposal of high‑level nuclear waste in Utah and urged federal intervention to stabilize electricity markets in the West.
"We do not want it here," Leavitt said, asserting that Utah will use "every legal, every environmental, every legislative, every political tool" available to block nuclear fuel rods from the state. He endorsed legislation carried by Senator Terry Spencer that would restrict companies' use of state resources and said Utah will tax such companies to the fullest extent allowable under the constitution.
Leavitt also said Utah will press to quiet title to RS 2477 rights of way and reclaim roughly 5,000 road rights of way that he described as state roads. He framed those land and resource efforts as part of broader work with the federal administration.
On electricity markets, Leavitt warned that a lack of reliable electric supply threatens the economy and called on federal regulators to "restore order to the electricity market through a temporary return to cost plus pricing in the wholesale market." He said Utah would participate in regional solutions and urged California to join conservation and market‑fixing measures.
The governor linked both energy reliability and the nuclear waste stance to protecting quality of life and the state's economic future; lawmakers recorded his remarks in the legislative journals after the address.
