The Story
Utah is building the legal runway for a very different energy system, while the biggest project proposed to use it is still only a proposal. That is the story in one sentence. The rest lays out what is actually on the books, what is actually proposed, and what is not yet decided.
First, how power works here now. For most Utah residents, electricity comes from a single vertically integrated regulated utility, Rocky Mountain Power, part of PacifiCorp. It owns generation, transmission, and distribution for its service area, and its rates are set through the Public Service Commission. That is not the whole state. Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives serve other communities, islands outside that system. So when people say Utah has an energy monopoly, the accurate version is narrower: a regulated monopoly for most residents, with municipal and cooperative islands around it.
Second, what changed in 2025. SB 132, the Large-Scale Electric Service Requirements Act, created a separate track for very large loads. A customer expected to reach 100 megawatts or more within five years is a large load customer. Rocky Mountain Power gets a window to negotiate a large-load contract, and the commission can approve it only if existing ratepayers do not bear costs attributable to that customer. If the utility and the customer cannot agree, the customer may contract with a large-scale generation provider instead, either using the utility's transmission, or, in a closed private generation system, with no grid connection at all. That closed system sits outside normal commission rate regulation. In plain terms, SB 132 did not deregulate Utah. It created an exit for the very largest loads, and left the regulated monopoly system in place for everyone else.
Third, how much demand is actually coming. The Legislature's Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, in an August 12, 2026 overview, reported about 2,600 megawatts of additional power will be necessary for data centers currently under construction in Utah, more than double the amount data centers currently use in the state. Roughly 2,350 megawatts of that new demand was attributed to three hyperscale projects currently under construction. Rocky Mountain Power, in the same overview, reported it had evaluated nearly 3 gigawatts of requests over a six-month period from potential large-scale customers. Those are requests and projects under construction, not power already on the grid, and the distinction matters.
Fourth, the nuclear side. In 2026 the Legislature also passed HB 78, creating a Nuclear Energy Regulatory Office, and SB 135, directing the Office of Energy Development to pursue nuclear fuel recycling investment. Under Utah Code Section 79-6-1202, the Office of Energy Development, in consultation with the Nuclear Energy Consortium and the Division of Waste Management and Radiation Control, was required to submit a report on or before October 31, 2026, to the Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee. That report was required to cover four things: barriers to siting and operating facilities for the full nuclear fuel lifecycle; co-location of advanced manufacturing, data centers, or high-heat industrial processes with nuclear generation; potential conflicts between state radiation control rules and federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards for advanced reactor types; and state permitting timelines. It was also required to include specific recommendations for legislative or rule changes, and a proposed framework for a nuclear innovation zone with streamlined regulatory oversight for a campus.
As of this issue, no published copy of that October 31 report itself has been located. This issue does not summarize its findings, because they have not been read. What is public is the requirement, the deadline, and the committee it was due to. The report is the next document to watch, not a document this issue can quote.
Fifth, the project that makes the runway concrete. Valar Atomics, a California-based startup, has proposed Project Beehive, a nuclear-powered data center campus near Price, in Carbon County. The proposal, as reported in September and October 2026, covers more than 9,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land, plus about 650 acres of state land. The Utah Trust Lands Administration voted in September 2026 to approve a 640-acre state trust land lease. The federal land is a different track: the Bureau of Land Management has confirmed it received Valar's application and is reviewing it for completeness, ahead of a full National Environmental Policy Act review with public comment. No federal approval has been granted.
The scale needs a note, because the numbers do not reconcile cleanly in the reporting. Valar's proposal is reported as about 456 small high-temperature gas-cooled reactors, with a combined reported capacity of about 9.6 gigawatts, more than double Utah's average statewide generation of roughly 4 gigawatts. At 25 megawatts per unit, 456 units would be 11.4 gigawatts, not 9.6. This issue prints both figures as reported, and flags the gap, rather than presenting them as reconciled. Valar's public timeline is non-nuclear construction starting in late 2026, first reactors in 2028, and full build-out by 2032. That timeline is the company's, not an approval.
What is real, at research scale, is Valar's Ward 250 test microreactor at the Utah San Rafael Energy Lab in Emery County. It reached zero-power criticality in June 2026, and was described by the Department of Energy as the second DOE-authorized reactor built outside a national laboratory. A test reactor reaching criticality is not a commercial power plant. It is a step in testing a design.
Why it matters in the valley: Utah Valley is where growth, housing, and power demand meet. If large loads can leave the regulated system, or build their own power, the question is not only whether the valley gets the jobs and the data centers. It is who pays for the grid that remains, who builds the transmission, and whether a valley household's bill moves because a very large customer arrived, or because it left.
The Case
Here is the record, in order, that the story above rests on.
• May 2025: SB 132 takes effect, creating the large-load track.
• 2026 session: HB 78 creates the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Office, and SB 135 directs the Office of Energy Development on nuclear fuel recycling.
• June 2026: Ward 250 reaches zero-power criticality in Emery County.
• September 2026: Trust Lands approves the 640-acre lease for Project Beehive, and the Bureau of Land Management confirms receipt of Valar's federal application.
• October 31, 2026: the nuclear-campus barriers report is due to the interim committee.
• Next: BLM completeness review, then a NEPA process with public comment, and the interim committee's handling of the October 31 report.
The Request
Utah just voted on November 3. The energy decisions in this issue are not made by the market alone. The Legislature wrote SB 132, the governor appoints Public Service Commissioners subject to Senate confirmation, the Trust Lands board approved the state lease, and the federal Bureau of Land Management process includes public comment. Our request is plain: follow the November Interim, November 17 to 19, including the Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee, and submit a public comment to the Bureau of Land Management when that comment period opens. That is where the questions below will actually be answered, by people voters chose, or by voters speaking in those forums.
The Question
Is there an actual energy monopoly in Utah? Is Utah stronger or weaker because of it?
The Calendar
Tuesday, Nov 10 — VentureCon: Student Business Tradeshow, UVU Hall of Flags, Orem.
Friday, Nov 13 — America Recycles Day Annual Conference, South Utah Valley Solid Waste District, Spanish Fork.
Tuesday, Nov 17 to Thursday, Nov 19 — November Interim, Utah Legislature, including the Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee.
Saturday, Nov 21 — Project Paideia AI Buildathon at UVU.
Monday, Nov 30 — Office of Energy Development annual consortium report due to the Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Interim Committee.
The Why
I wrote this because power is not an abstract policy question in Utah Valley. It is the bill on a kitchen table, the cost of building a home here, and whether the next generation can afford to stay. When a single provider controls most of the power, and a data center can need more power than a whole city, citizens deserve the full case, not just a press release. That is why this issue asks the question plainly, instead of telling you the answer.
Utah Valley Insider is reported to a simple standard: truth or it doesn't print. Tips: reply to this email.
Harvey Scott, Founder
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Sources for this issue: Utah Code Section 79-6-1202; Utah Legislature, Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, Data Centers overview, August 12, 2026; SB 132, Large-Scale Electric Service Requirements Act, 2025; Valar Atomics Project Beehive reporting, September-October 2026; Utah Trust Lands Administration lease vote, September 2026; Bureau of Land Management application review status, as reported October 2026.