Political authorities in Utah are considering breaking up the parent company of Rocky Mountain Power

Salt Lake City, Utah – Politicians in Utah are investigating the possibility of splitting up Rocky Mountain Power and Pacificorp, and they are putting pressure on the energy behemoth to order a feasibility study.

It comes after the utility provoked the anger of Capitol Hill in Utah with its request for a 30% rate hike, which has since been lowered to 18%.

“I would like to express my gratitude to Rocky Mountain Power for listening to the worries expressed by the people and authorities of Utah. The suggested rate increase was excessive, as you may have seen. House Speaker Mike Schultz, a Republican from Hooper, stated, “I still think the 18% is too much.”

Speaker Schultz, Senate President J. Stuart Adams and Governor Spencer Cox fired off a joint letter to PacifiCorp They request that Rocky Mountain Power president Dick Garlish and CEO Cindy Crane of PacifiCorp “conduct a study and produce a report outlining the options, challenges, and opportunities associated with a corporate realignment of the utility.”

“Specifically, consider and compare RMP’s existing corporate structure with how it would change in the event of a potential corporate realignment,” the letter read.

They were given till November to get the report ready for the legislature and the governor. Rocky Mountain Power announced that it will carry out the investigation in a statement.

“This is an important discussion. There are some significant concepts out there without a lot of supporting data, according to Garlish. “The report will be an effort to conceptualize what some of those ideas could potentially look like and what the challenges and impacts an organizational realignment might create for customers, the company, and the states we serve.”

Rocky Mountain Power is a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s PacifiCorp. It claims to be the biggest provider of electricity in the western United States. The governor and legislative leadership, along with Rocky Mountain Power executives, made a similar request, which they recently justified in front of a legislative committee.

Though he would prefer to see things go back “to the old Utah Power & Light” days, Speaker Schultz stressed that any official decisions on Pacificorp and Rocky Mountain Power could be years away. The legislature is upset with Rocky Mountain Power’s recent rate increase in part because of fees they feel are being passed along to pay for policy costs and damages from wildfires in neighboring states.

Recently, the Utah State Legislature revised its energy regulations to support an “all of the above” strategy, which lawmakers claim guarantees a plentiful and reasonably priced energy supply. However, detractors claim that lawmakers are biased in favor of fossil fuels while, in light of climate change, they ought to be more interested in renewable energy sources.

Utah currently has some of the lowest electricity prices in the country. The planned rate hike, according to Rocky Mountain Power, is required to pay for fuel expenses, inflation, capital improvements, and insurance premiums because wildfire risks are on the rise.

“We don’t want the citizens of other states dictating policy here in the state of Utah,” Speaker Schultz stated. “And that’s essentially what’s happened over the last several years because they have a different policy system and goals in those other states than what we have in Utah and Wyoming and Idaho.”