Renewable or nonrenewable resources used to obtain energy.
Related resource topics for county planning include the following:
The ESRI mxd file of the services used to create the above map.
Public and private utilities draw upon renewable and nonrenewable resources to provide electric and fuel (natural gas, propane, oil, gasoline) energy supplies. The governor’s 10-year Strategic Energy Plan describes Utah’s energy goals and recommendations . The MAG region is not a major producer of nonrenewable fuels compared to other counties in Utah. While coal was historically mined in Summit County and coal is still present in the region, there are no currently active coal mines. Summit County does have several wells producing oil and gas.
The Utah Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining provides maps and data including:
- The Utah Coal Program website provides a public records coal map and an interactive story map.
- The Oil and Gas Program website has interactive maps and data of Utah oil production.
Utah produces 4.3 percent of its power from renewable sources, which ranks 35th among all states in the US . Of the power produced in the MAG region, about 4 percent is produced from renewable sources, primarily from hydroelectric and wind facilities. Geothermal energy potential also exists in the region and is used to heat pools at several resorts in Wasatch County.
MAG Energy Generation Sources (MW = megawatts)
The Four Corners Wind Resource Center facilitates regional wind power development in the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory provides maps showing wind energy development potential across the State of Utah.
A U.S. Department of Energy solar radiation map of Utah illustrating solar resource potential across the state.
The following are examples of goals and policies that might be included in a county’s resource management plan to address energy resource issues. Most of these examples come from existing county, state, and federal plans; other examples can be found in the referenced plans and other resources listed below.
Alternative Energy/Renewable Resources
- Encourage and promote energy conservation .
- Encourage development of renewable resources as a substitute for oil, natural gas, and other limited energy supplies used for electricity generation, and to reduce consumption of these supplies .
- Make geothermal steam available for use on a managed and controlled
basis consistent with national energy policies and related demands .
- Support and participate in planning for locally produced sustainable energy and its local consumption and transport .
- Encourage businesses to develop solid and fluid mineral resources while using the best technology and mitigation techniques to protect natural amenities and natural resources .
- Minimize impacts to ecology and scenery from fluid and solid mineral development while allowing such development to continue to benefit the economy .
- Support balanced and responsible natural-resource development that benefits the public and generates revenues for public service providers to help pay for public infrastructure improvements needed to achieve economic diversity .
- Current information and reports are available from the Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development. A key resource addressing economic issues is the May 2015 report, Energy and Energy-Related Mining in Utah.
- Utah’s Energy Landscape provides statewide information of employment across all sectors of energy projection in Utah
- Utah energy quick facts are available from the US Energy Information Administration.
- In planning, consider all possible forms of renewable energy that can be developed in Utah, including solar, wind, hydro, and biomass. These projects create revenue and jobs. In the third quarter of 2015, Utah created more clean energy jobs than any other state, nearly 3,000. The government offers many incentives to those who develop renewable energy sources .
- In 2013 energy employment generated $2.853 billion in wages. The energy sector generated state and local taxes, fees, and royalties of $656 million .
- Energy production within the MAG region is substantial, with total economic value of direct, indirect, and induced totaling $1,856,625, $358,961,360, and $6,279,063 for Summit, Utah, and Wasatch Counties respectively .
The many datasets in the map and data download sections can be used to identify areas of the county with existing or potential energy production by type of energy.
- Energy development projects on public lands may affect sensitive wildlife and other resources.
- Decisions to permit energy development projects on federal lands must be consistent with applicable resource management plans and likely require environmental impact evaluation under the National Environmental Policy Act.
|Data Name||Data Explanation||Publication Date||Spatial Accuracy||Contact|
|Coal Deposit Areas||Utah Coal Mines, Deposits, and Leases Locations||06/08/2015||unknown||Utah Division Oil, Gas, and Minerals (DOGM)|
|Energy Generation - Location, CO2 production, Fuel Type||Power plant locations||01/18/2013||unknown||State of Utah|
|Surface Land Ownership; use Admin field to identify administrative agency||Updated Weekly||1:24,000||State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA).|
|Renewable Energy Zones - Geothermal, Solar, Wind||Data package||01/18/2013||various||Utah Renewable Energy Zone (UREZ) Task Force|
|State Fuel Sites||Fuel distribution and storage locations||unknown||unknown||unknown|
|State lands energy and mineral plat maps|
|SITLA oil and gas plat map, coal plat map, and others minerals||unknown||unknown||State of Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA).|
|Tar Sands||Tar Sand locations||01/18/2013||Unknown||AGRC|
|U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA)|
|Energy-related information for National, State and Local areas.||12/01/2015||various||U.S. Energy Information Agency|
|Utah Oil and Gas Map|
(AGRC) , (DOGM)
|Oil and Gas - Wells, Fields, Units from DOGM hosted at AGRC||Wells updated weekly, Fields 5/15/13, Units 10/16/13||Various||Utah Division Oil, Gas, and Minerals (DOGM)|
|Utah Oil Gas Tabular Data||Statistical data on drilling, production, and other content||various||various||Utah Division Oil, Gas, and Minerals (DOGM)|
- Utah Office of Energy Development. 2014. Energy Initiatives & Imperatives: Utah’s 10-Year Strategic Energy Plan 2.0, February.
- Vanden Berg, Michael, D., Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological Survey. 2016. Utah’s Energy Landscape, 4th Edition.
- Envision Utah. 2014. Wasatch Choices 2040: A Four County Land-Use and Transportation Vision.
- Summit County. 2013. Eastern Summit County General Plan.
- U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Salt Lake District. 1975. Park City Management Framework Plan.
- American Council on Renewable Energy. 2014. Renewable Energy in Utah.
- Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development. 2016. Energy Overview. Website accessed February 17, 2016.
- Utah Governor’s Office of Energy Development. 2015. Energy and Energy-Related Mining in Utah, An Economic and Fiscal Impact Assessment.