Proposal would bring $2M to fight California's extra charge on coal-generated Utah power

State Rep. Mike Noel of Kanab is shepherding a bill through the Utah Legislature that would allocate $2 million to sue California over its laws that make power generated at Utah coal-fired plants more expensive. The bill passed its first test last week, a subcommittee vote with a single legislator raising objections.

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Republican Noel said that the California rule, which adds $15 per kilowatt hour to the price California utilities pay for coal-produced power from Utah, is hurting the coal industry in the rural parts of the state that he represents. He claims that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Commerce Clause, that has an implied prohibition of state laws and regulations that interfere with or discriminate against interstate commerce. Noel called the California regulation part of “California’s war on Utah coal.”

Sen. Jim Dabakis, a Salt Lake City Democrat, was the only dissenting vote in subcommittee, wondering aloud why the cost doesn’t fall to the coal companies directly affected by the California law.

Noel’s proposal was part of an appropriations bill by the Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee and now moves on to an executive appropriations committee for approval.

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