Thank you for joining us for a special edition of Utah Insight.

I'm Ray Christiansen.

Tonight we delve into the future of energy production in Utah.

In Carbon and Emery counties, you can see new solar farms popping up.

These communities have historically relied on coal as an economic base.

Now they're exploring how to make solar energy a reliable power source, even during periods without sunlight.

(gentle music) - [Raeann] You can learn a lot about a place by its name.

And that's especially true for Carbon County in Eastern Utah.

For nearly 150 years, coal has been a major economic force in the area, but that is changing.

- [Tony] Carbon County for its name sake, we've always been into energy production.

Growing up here, it was the coal was the biggest thing, but over the last few years, we've seen that change.

2019 was our last coal mine operating within Carbon County.

So for the last four years, we have not had any coal extraction within our county limits.

- [Raeann] As market pressures push more energy production away from fossil fuels, the area is adapting.

- As far as being an energy producing community, we're pretty proud of that.

- [Raeann] This county, perfectly positioned to harness the power of coal, is also perfectly positioned to harness another power.

(gentle music) The sun.

(gentle music) - This Castle Valley range in southern Utah is some of the best solar in the country and some of the best solar in the world because what we have here is 340 sunny days a year.

We're at roughly 5,800 foot elevation, so we're closer to the sun.

So there's less particulate diffusion that happens from the sun, and the solar panels just crank power.

- [Raeann] But can solar energy provide the same stability as fossil fuels?

- [Tony] Our consumption of electricity is growing faster than it ever has.

(gentle music) - And what happens when the sun isn't shining?

There's a major shift happening right below the scenic landscapes these neighboring Utah counties are known for.

Driving around Carbon and Emery counties, you're gonna see solar panels popping up everywhere.

- You can imagine that there's 78 solar panels on one row, and then each row is individually, has a individual DC motor that turns it.

- [Raeann] Since being completed in 2022, the Graphite Solar Project in Carbon County is pumping out a lot of electricity with more than 247,000 solar panels.

I have the chance to chat with Luigi Resta, who works for rPlus Energies.

That's the company behind the massive solar farm.

- And the benefit of solar against other technologies is there's no fuel cost.

The sun comes up and that's our, the fuel that we have.

So it's almost free power.

You pay to put it in.

And then for the life, which this is expected to last 35 years, you're getting free electricity.

It does produce power every day that the sun comes up.

And one thing that we know is the sun comes up every day.

Sometimes, we have stormy weather and clouds and rain, and it won't be as optimal of solar output as it could be.

The issue is what do you do when it's not sunny?

And that is changing with the development of new battery technologies.

Almost all solar projects will have a battery component so that you can imagine the middle of the day, a big cloud comes over, the battery then picks up what it's not producing and pushes the power out.

- [Raeann] rPlus energies is rolling out next gen battery technology in its newest project, the Green River Energy Center in neighboring Emery County.

Now, these aren't your everyday batteries.

They're designed to store solar power.

So even when the sun decides to play hide and seek or it's nighttime, you still got steady flow of electricity.

It's like having a reservoir of sunlight that you can tap into anytime.

This is a huge step forward in making solar energy more reliable.

- [Luigi] We're adding battery or energy storage to them to allow for the dispatch through times when the utility really needs it and when the solar project might produce it.

So our Green River Project will have a significant battery component to it so that the reliability for the consumer is still, is still there.

- [Raeann] The massive project will cost around 750 million bucks.

It's spread out over 3,200 acres, just north of this cozy little town called Moore.

The Green River Energy Center could change the local Emery County economy as well in a good way.

Over in the neighboring Carbon County, they're already feeling a financial boost thanks to the Graphite Solar Project.

County commissioner Tony Martinez sees the progress firsthand.

- You know, from a county commissioner point of view, this land open and not being used was generating roughly about $1,300, this whole property, in taxes per year.

Once they put this solar project on it, we're getting over a hundred thousand.

So for a county commissioner and an incentive side, this was an easy decision to make.

- Why is it important to do renewable?

- You know, it fits here.

Carbon County for its namesake, we've always been into energy production.

Growing up in Carbon County, we have this.

We have blue skies, we have a lot of open land.

From the mining industry, we have a lot of infrastructure that was here.

So as our power plant closed in 2015, it opened up a lot of capacity on the lines.

So it's been kind of a natural attraction to have solar development in this area.

We have the land, we have the infrastructure, and it just seemed like a good fit.

- We, as a company, rPlus Energies, really actually like to work in communities that have a history of energy, and it can be in a variety of different forms.

Here, it's coal.

- [Announcer] The coal resources of Utah are enormous.

With one fifth of the state underlaid with this valuable combustible mineral.

- [Tony] And coal mining and coal power plant generations, we view that that history is really important for, to continue the legacy of an energy community.

And so we go in with that concept that we're not here to change that, we're here to continue it and to offer options.

- So we've lost a lot of the coal jobs, but people are transitioning into a different form of employment.

- Obviously, we don't have as many coal mining jobs, but we've changed into different, like our university is doing some different things.

They're trying to get some engineering going.

Our nursing programs, our welding programs here is just topnotch.

So we've looked at other opportunities, but now we're more forced into doing different things that were kind of out of the norm.

- [Raeann] It's a big transition for communities like these, but they are determined to stay relevant in the energy world while also embracing a greener future.

- So we've really stepped away from the coal, but we're still part of the energy.

We have, from the coal, we have the infrastructure here.

We're just maintaining to still be an energy producing county.

We're just doing it in a different generation style.

Eastern Utah isn't the only area dealing with uncertainty due to the energy transition.

In southwestern Wyoming one community faces a similar economic struggle, but the potential solution there is just a bit different and could lead the way for others in similar situations.

(peaceful music) it's easy to feel like time is standing still.

(peaceful music continues) While the rest of the world whizzes into the future, (peaceful music continues) there's something about the rustic architecture of quaint Main Street that reminds visitors of a bygone era, but here in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

- There's lots of things that rural communities have to offer.

They just have to sometimes reinvent themselves.

- [Raeann] A cutting edge piece of technology could be pushing this small town into the future, helping redefine this community for generations to come.

(peaceful music continues) - [Mayor Thek] I think there's been a rebirth of hope in what's gonna happen here, and that's real exciting.

- [Raeann] The town has relied on fossil fuels as an economic base for more than a century, and it'll soon be home to the first of its kind advanced nuclear reactor project, built by the company TerraPower, but why Kemmerer?

- It's a very resilient community.

It don't give up very easily.

- And could this project provide a roadmap for other communities facing similar uncertainty?

Situated in southwestern Wyoming, the small town of Kemmerer has certainly seen some tough times lately.

The Naughton coal-fired power plant has provided stable jobs in the area for more than 60 years, but that stability has been in question ever since the town learned the plant would close in 2025.

If there wasn't something here, 'cause a lot of people do work at the coal plant.

- Mm-hmm, yeah, there's some.

- The town might disappear.

- It would change drastically, no doubt.

- [Raeann] The news TerraPower is coming to town has replaced some of that uncertainty with cautious optimism.

The nuclear energy startup was founded by none other than Bill Gates.

If the power plant in this little Wyoming town proves successful, they plan to build these innovative reactors all across America, an idea that could revolutionize nuclear power in the US.

(vehicle whooshing) Tell me where we are at right now.

- So we are right off of 189, just south of Kemmerer, and we are about four miles from the Naughton coal plant that's just to our south.

This was kind of an ideal place to put a nuclear plant to replace a coal plant that is already scheduled for shutdown.

- [Raeann] Kemmerer's history as a fossil fuel hub actually makes this the perfect spot for TerraPower's first nuclear plant.

For starters, they've also got the needed infrastructure here from the coal facility, transmission lines, access to water, all that good stuff.

Tara Neider, who's directing the project for TerraPower, says those are just some of the big reasons for choosing Kemmerer.

- [Tara] We looked at multiple locations within Wyoming that PacifiCorp had retiring coal plants, but Kemmerer was the most welcoming.

- But it's not just about infrastructure and location.

The spirit of the people here and the community's resilience also play a part.

Why was that important to you to advocate for the community, knowing that the coal plant was shutting down, why was it so important to advocate for that?

- Because it is my community.

It's me, I've lived here most of my life.

I thought not only was it an opportunity to try to capitalize on something else that was gonna keep the town alive, but prosper into the future.

- And I think we impressed them that, the slogan that I used is we want you and we need you, and using the song, of course, "I want you to want me, I need you to need me."

- [Raeann] The TerraPower facility uses an advanced technology known as a natrium nuclear reactor that uses liquid sodium to transfer heat, which will then generate electricity.

(record scratching) What?

Are you confused by that description as I was at first?

We're gonna break it down a little more.

Here's how it works.

Nuclear reactions produce intense heat, which warms the liquid sodium.

This hot sodium heats water, converting it to steam.

The steam then drives turbines, creating electricity.

Natrium can store excess heat by using steam to heat a special molten salt.

This technology is different from older nuclear plants because instead of water, it's using liquid sodium to cool things down.

Sodium's fantastic at moving heat around without all the high pressure, which means we're avoiding those scary leaks or explosion worries.

- This is not Chernobyl, it's not Fukushima, it's not Three Mile Island.

This is a whole new technology, and I was convinced, with what we learned about it, that it's going to be safe.

- [Raeann] Because the natrium nuclear reactor has an energy storage capability that's built right in, this next-gen plant can provide steady, reliable base load power around the clock, just like the coal plants used to do.

That means there's electricity available every time you flip a switch or plug something in.

But the difference, this plant won't put any additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

- One of the great things about nuclear fuel is a pellet about this size is like the equivalent of multiple trucks of coal, so it's huge, right?

So it's got a lot of energy in a little amount of fuel.

- [Raeann] And while people in Kemmerer need access to reliable power just like the rest of us, the best part for them is a boost to the local economy in the form of reliable jobs.

- Our test facility will be about 40 permanent jobs, and the reactor itself will be about 250 permanent jobs.

We do anticipate utilizing whoever wants to from the coal plant to join this as well.

- We were prepared to be in this position because we already had started losing jobs.

- With the coal plant shutting down, do you think there's gonna be enough jobs with the nuclear plant?

- Yes.

- To sustain the community?

- We've had a lot of discussions with that with TerraPower.

There's already process going on with Western Wyoming College and the university involved in that, and a training center to retrain the people that wanna stay here.

- [Raeann] TerraPower plans on firing up its natrium reactor in 2030, bringing a brighter future to both Kemmerer, and potentially other rural communities also dealing with the decline of coal.

- So many cities and towns across the country and around the world are so interested in a little bitty place like ours.

- We do believe there's a huge amount of need for these reactors.

I think we'll have a lot of customers wanting these plants.

- It means everything to this community to keep it going for my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids, and on and on.

While the Terrapower project could transform energy production above ground in central Utah, researchers are exploring another potential power revolution.

And this one could be hiding right beneath our feet.

- [RaeAnn] Drive along any highway or through a city, and you see them.

Power lines high above your head, moving energy to businesses and homes.

That's why every time you flip on a switch, boom, instant light.

But what if I told you if some of that energy is coming from below the Earth's surface?

And we're talking deep, deep below.

- Geothermal has the potential to provide electrical needs for the US and effect the world.

- [RaeAnn] This is a story of geothermal energy and how it could revolutionize the way we get our electricity.

- I've got kids and grandkids that they need a clean world, and the way to do that is to use the renewables as best we can.

Geothermal energy.

While the name may sound complicated to some people, it's fairly easy to break down.

Geo means earth, and thermal means heat.

Simply put, it is energy from inside the earth.

And while it's already being used as a source of renewable energy, new research could allow geothermal energy to be used in more places than ever before.

Right now, the only way to access enough heat to produce electricity is through what's called a conventional geothermal power plant.

Those must be built near areas with hot water below the surface, like natural hot springs or geysers, which aren't in a lot of places.

While underground hot water isn't available everywhere, one necessary ingredient is.

(inquisitive music) - Geothermal hot rock is always high, and it's always receiving new heat from the center of the earth.

- [RaeAnn] So what if we could bring the water to that hot rock?

That's the goal of the Utah FORGE Project sponsored by the US Department of Energy.

- The idea here is we can create a reservoir anywhere we need it.

We can create it in a parking lot.

We can create it in cities, in towns, just where it's needed.

And so that's a tremendous advantage of being able to create these reservoirs.

It will have a very large impact on the ability to generate electricity wherever it's needed.

- [RaeAnn] Let's head down near the town of Milford in Beaver County, Utah.

This is the spot where Utah FORGE has an underground field lab.

Dr. Joseph Moore and his team are working on advanced geothermal system technologies that can better utilize a potentially never-ending source of heat.

So, how does it work?

First, they drill a hole called the injection well vertically in the ground.

And for the first time ever in the geothermal world, the FORGE project then drilled at an angle.

That's a big advancement.

Next, they use hydraulic fracturing to create cracks in the hot rock deep underground around this well.

Then they drill another hole that's called the production well next to the first one thousands of feet below the surface.

Water is pumped down the injection well.

As it moves through the cracks in the hot rock, it picks up heat.

This heated water resurfaces through the production well.

The steam it creates turns the turbines to make electricity.

After generating energy, the water cools down and is reused in the process.

- I think in 10 years we'll have it understood to the point where we can build these geothermal reservoirs anywhere we want.

We're getting close.

- [RaeAnn] Getting close is right.

In May of 2024, Utah FORGE made a big breakthrough.

Tests showed water is passing between two geothermal wells and the water is getting hot enough to produce steam.

This is a big step forward in proving that this technology could one day be used for widespread electricity production.

- If we produced even 2% of the energy between two and four miles depth, we would have more than 2000 times the energy used in the US.

- [RaeAnn] While Utah FORGE explores the future of geothermal energy, other technologies are already being used right now.

Let's head to the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City to show you one.

(inquisitive music) - We're just putting water down in there and then it's normalizing with the temperature down about 350 feet.

So in the wintertime, it comes back hotter.

In the summertime, it comes back cooler.

And we just put a loop down in there so we're not actually exchanging fluid with the groundwater.

So there's no ecological impact.

- [RaeAnn] Look through that window.

You can see a series of blue pipes.

Those pipes are part of a geothermal system that's heating and cooling the building.

Underneath the nearby soccer fields, 151 geothermal wells are pulling energy from the earth.

We've been told that geothermal is saving the school at least $70,000 a year in energy costs, and that's not all.

They're also saving 1.8 million gallons of water and preventing 378 tons of carbon dioxide from being released.

- I run a 16 kilowatt pump for five minutes an hour in the middle of winter to heat this building.

That's it.

- [RaeAnn] But wait, there's more.

John says they've been producing so much energy, they can send the extra back to other buildings on campus.

We are in a world where many people are trying to be more environmentally friendly.

- I can heat my house hotter, I can cool myself cooler, and I can do it with less impact on the economy, less impact on the ecology, and less impact on my wallet.

So, the only question is, why not?

- [RaeAnn] So to answer that question, why not, the technology isn't quite there yet for widespread electricity generation and the systems to heat and cool homes, well, they're expensive.

On average, homeowners can expect to pay between $18,000 and $30,000 for a geothermal pump system.

This initial investment is high, but geothermal systems are known for their efficiency, longevity, and ability to significantly reduce heating and cooling bills often by half.

- Geothermal has a very, very small footprint.

It's clean, it's renewable.

It really has no environmental effects, harmful effects, and it could be put anywhere.

- [RaeAnn] The FORGE Project and the University of Utah aren't just chatting about change.

They're actively laying down the geothermal path.

As researchers with the Forge Project seek to harness the power beneath the Earth's surface, another group in Salt Lake City is tapping into a higher power in their pursuit of cleaner energy.

And as you'll see, their efforts are paying off in more ways than one.

(lighthearted music) - Storms will test your day!

(audience clapping hands) - Yes!

- Yes!

- I'm a preacher that preaches hope.

And when I look at the climate conditions, what I see is climate anxiety, (fire sizzling) which is the exact opposite of hope.

- [Raeann] In the face of climate change, a historic church in Utah is working to turn hope into action.

- Our motto was, Calvary Baptist Church securing energy for future generations.

- [Raeann] So what's this congregation doing to get more eco-friendly?

- [John] So we thought, "Why not take a chance?"

- [Raeann] And are those changes actually helping?

- I think that we all have a role to play in creating a cleaner climate.

This is Utah's Power Pivot.

(gentle music) Nestled in the mountains of Salt Lake City, Utah, Calvary Baptist Church is leading the way on sustainability.

They recently installed solar panels and upgraded its lighting to more energy-efficient LEDs.

That's part of the church's commitment to a cleaner, greener future.

The reverend, Dr. Oscar Terrance Moses, hopes their efforts are just the beginning, inspiring the whole community to change.

- I think that it's incumbent upon the church to get involved because there's clearly a problem.

- Calvary Baptist teamed up with Utah Clean Energy to make all of this happen.

- Cost of the project was the $351,000, but we got a grant to cover 80% of that cost.

We thought it was worth our time to convert the lights, the solar panels, and the control units.

- [Raeann] I'm chatting with John Robertson, and he's the money guy at Calvary Baptist.

He gave me the inside scoop on all the energy upgrades they've done.

- But when we want full effect, we turn on all of the lights, and we get the big ambiance from those big bulbs up there.

- And these are all energy efficient?

- [John] And these are all energy efficient.

Now, once we did the conversion, we converted the lights and of course we have the solar system that is energizing it, so it works wonderful.

- So all of this is powered by the solar?

- All of this is powered by the solar, and what a savings it is for us.

(bright upbeat music) 'Cause we have 466 solar panels on the roof, and we've been utilizing it since 2021.

And I notice a substantial decrease in our monthly bills.

We used to average around $3,600 a month in just the utility bill, the light bill.

Right now, we're right around 1,100.

- [Raeann] That's a ton of money to save for just a few changes, - Yeah, ton of money.

- The church's green upgrades aren't just saving money, they're also shrinking their carbon footprint big time.

In 2022, the energy produced from Calvary's new solar panels alone was more than 5,400 kilowatt hours.

And by using all that clean solar energy, they reduced their carbon dioxide output by around 7,300 pounds.

- [John] To break it down even better, 5,467 kilowatt hours of renewable energy, that's enough renewable energy to brew 65,867 pots of coffee.

(coffee pouring) That's a lot of coffee.

(laughing) - [Raeann] That's a lot of coffee.

But these energy savings go beyond the church's physical location.

They're bringing their congregation members along for the ride with free upgrades, like attic insulation or smart thermostats.

Many people don't even know about these incentives or rebates offered by power and gas companies, even though they could help save them money.

Calvary Baptist gets major props for rallying their community to actually take advantage of the upgrades.

♪ Jesus ♪ Light in dark If you've been to Utah, you may have noticed some gunky, unhealthy air at times.

Where most Utahans live is called the Wasatch Front, and that's surrounded by mountains.

This is basically like a bull that just traps all that bad air.

When people don't use these incentives, that ends up putting more pollutants into the air, and none of us want that.

- There's some health issues, so we wanna stay healthy.

I've lived in this state long enough to know that we get those inversions where, and in some of us older individuals, they don't want us even to go outside.

The incentive is for there to be clean air for everyone.

It helps our children, our future generations, and our responsibility to this world that God created.

- [Raeann] Utah Clean Energy crunched the numbers and found out that the home upgrades are saving about 31,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

John told me that's over $200 in savings for each household.

And here's the craziest part.

Together, the church and home improvements are expected to slash their carbon dioxide output by 130 tons per year.

That's the same amount of carbon a gas guzzling car gives off over a 300,000-mile drive.

- Yeah, I think that they feel as though they're doing their part; however small or minimal it might be.

I think that they're, we feel as though we're doing our role to help create a cleaner climate.

And so whether it's the changing over of light bulbs to LED, whether it's changing out from the old thermostats to smart thermostats.

And so I think it gives us some ownership in helping creating a healthy climate.

- [Raeann] What Calvary Baptist has achieved so far is really inspiring.

It just goes to show what can happen when people unite around a common goal of being environmentally aware.

- And so I think that no matter who you are, whatever role you can do, I think, it's critical that you do something to help impact our world.

- I think that's really good.

(laughing) I got chills.

It was almost as though... - Ah.

That was really great.

- (laughing) Thank you.

If you enjoyed these stories, we have more on Utah's energy transition online.

You can head over to PBS Utah's YouTube channel and check out the stories on the history of coal in Utah and research being done at the San Rafael Research Center.

Thank you so much for joining us for this special edition of Utah Insight.

For all of us here at PBS Utah I'm Ron Christensen.