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UAMPS raises questions about HB514 special‑service district for state energy projects
Summary
UAMPS told ULCT members that HB514 would allow a state‑led special service district to bond and support energy projects; amendments clarified the district cannot serve retail customers already covered by existing certificated utilities, but UAMPS and municipal utilities warned about boundary, eminent‑domain and ownership risks.
Mike Squires of UAMPS briefed the Legislative Policy Committee on HB514, a bill that would create a state‑defined special service district to enable financing and operation of certain energy infrastructure projects (a concept that grew from interest in the Intermountain Power Plant).
Squires said a recent floor amendment clarifies that a special service district could not provide retail electric service to customers already served by existing certificated entities (municipal utilities, electric cooperatives, and investor‑owned utilities). The substitute also includes a provision that, in the event of conflict between the special district language and Title 10 (municipal utility governance), Title 10 would govern.
Despite those protections, Squires and others said concerns remain: the bill leaves open how district boundaries would be set, whether a district could use eminent‑domain powers, and the risk that a state entity could acquire generation assets. He said the sponsor and the governor’s office have signaled different views on state ownership, and UAMPS urged further clarification, more study and, ideally, interim work rather than immediate enactment.
ULCT staff said they will continue to work with the sponsor to narrow potential conflicts and ensure local utilities’ certificated territories and municipal authorities are protected. Members were told power‑revenue bonds would be repaid from sale of energy output and not necessarily by property taxes, and that operator privilege taxes can be applied in limited circumstances under the draft.
