Energy office highlights nuclear and geothermal milestones; Oil, Gas & Mining seeks restricted funds for digital permitting pilot

Emmy Leslowski, director of the Office of Energy Development, told the committee Utah is expanding its role in nuclear and geothermal development. Leslowski noted the San Rafael Energy Lab’s growth and said Valor Atomics was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy as a test reactor partner expected "to go critical by our semi‑quincentennial on 07/04/2026," positioning Utah as a testbed for advanced nuclear research. She also highlighted geothermal test well work to support district heating opportunities and said the state is coordinating critical‑minerals strategy and workforce development.

Mick Thomas, director of the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, briefed the committee on permitting efficiency and automation. Thomas said oil and gas permit turnaround improved from roughly 200 days to about 45–50 days, and mining on‑time review improved from about 37% to roughly 62%. He described a digital modernization pilot conducted with Google Gemini Enterprise that reduced some small mine permit review steps from weeks to hours in a pilot. To put the project into production, the division requested permission to expend restricted oil and gas funds: "the budget...is 935,001 one‑time, 850,000 ongoing," Thomas said, clarifying that the request comes from existing restricted funds and not from the general fund.

Thomas framed the modernization as a way to reduce administrative bottlenecks and allow technical staff to focus on substantive review. He said the division intends to pursue rule updates for bonding and to pursue MOUs with federal partners (BLM, Forest Service) to pre‑vet applications where appropriate, while preserving federal decision authority. The committee did not take immediate action on the RFA; members asked clarifying procedural questions about funding sources and pilot scope.