Big Story of the Year: President Obama Arrives in Utah For a Friendly Visit

Keep your eyes on this space, as we intend to publish timely updates theoughout the day

We're going to label this the Big Story of The Year, Folks.  What could be Bigger than the arrival of Our Democratic Party President in the Reddest of All Red States, after all?

President Barack Obama arrived in Utah yesterday for a visit. The president's first order of business? A meetup with LDS Church leaders.  Interestingly, wethink, President Monson was a "no-show":

• President Obama arrives in Utah, meets with LDS Church leaders
• Obama meets with Mormon church leaders, Gov. Herbert during Utah trip.

Obama's a savvy politican, who's well aware of who "runs the show" in Utah, of course.

Although the president's itinery demonstrates he won't be rubbing elbows with Utah politicos of the Republican party persuasion (for the most part,) the President did devote a few minutes yesterday to schmoozing with local leaders of his own political party:

• President Obama Meets With Utah Democratic Leaders In Downtown Salt Lake City

Obama arrives in Utah

Mr. Obama is expected to highlight clean energy initiatives during his address at Hill Air Force Base later today, in realtion to which he'll also hold a roundtable discussion at Hill with people who are working to train Utahns in the clean-energy sector. Sen. Orrin Hatch, Rep. Rob Bishop and Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker are expected to join that discussion (taking careful notes, we hope):

• Exclusive: Obama to highlight clean-energy jobs in Utah visit

Those readers who are keen to follow develpments pertaining to the President's ongoing visit should keep your eyes on this space, as we intend to publish timely updates theoughout the day.

An additional Hat-tip to the fine folks at UtahPolicy.Com, for helping us round this stuff up.

Updates 4/3/15: As promised, we'll just keep adding updates as subsequent stories roll in:

• What Pres. Obama and Gov. Herbert talked about in motorcade to SLC - Fox 13 News
• Using Utah stage, Obama set to announce solar power initiatives - SLTrib
• Obama Meets With Mormon Leaders To Discuss Immigration Reform In Utah - Huffington Post
• Obama speaks at Hill about new clean energy initiative - Standard-Examiner
• Obama touts solar initiative, thanks Mormon leaders for LGBT law SLTrib
• President Obama announces Hill Air Force base will participate in solar energy training program - Good4Utah
• Obama praises Hill's progress in renewable energy - Standard-Examiner
• A Presidential Visit Prompts a Reporter to Put His Boots On - City Weekly
• Obama’s talk with Mormon leaders is latest in long string of closed-off meetings, media group says - SLTrib

Weber County Forum Saturday Morning Backburner Cleanup

We'll rely upon our WCF readership this morning to wax on about the meaning of all this

Due to the dismal dearth of nutritious local red meat political news popping up on the web this morning, we've dredged up a couple of interesting items from the Weber County Forum back burner, both of which are worthy of our readers' attention, wethink:

1) The Salt Lake Tribune reported on Tuesday that "[t]he board of the Sutherland Institute, the state’s most prominent conservative 'think tank,' has asked its longtime president, Paul Mero, to resign after long-simmering disputes apparently reached a head":

• Board ousts Paul Mero as Sutherland Institute president

"Stanford Swim, chairman of the board of the Sutherland Institute, will serve as acting CEO until a new president is chosen."

Mero's apparent defect:  Not quite wacky enough to suit the "extremists" of  the Sutherland Institute?

2) Following up on our 7/28/14 story, wherein we reported that Rocky Mountain Power was in the process of sticking thrifty Utah solar panel users with a $5/month "sun tax," we were delighted to learn yesterday from the Trib that  this lame-brained proposal has been at least temporarily deep-sixed.

"Utahns with rooftop solar panels won’t face a new fee from Rocky Mountain Power after the Utah Public Service Commission ruled Friday that the utility company failed to prove such a charge is "just and reasonable," the Trib's Matt Canham And Brian Maffly report:

• Utah commission rejects proposed fee for solar homes

Although "... this contentious debate pitting the state’s largest electric company against environmental groups isn’t going away, [inasmuch as] [t]he Commission is open to revisiting the issue as long as Rocky Mountain Power can provide some hard data proving these customers should be treated differently than others who just use less energy than the average family,[r]enewable energy advocates are [nevertheless] hailing the ruling as a major victory," and quite rightly wethink.

For the moment, at least, we'll also hail it as a victory for good old-fashioned common sense.

Have at it, O Gentle Ones.  We'll rely upon our WCF readership this morning to wax on about the meaning of all this.

Salt Lake Tribune: Is A Fee For Solar Energy Users A 'SunTax' Or Fair Play? - Updated

Our take? Executives of America's multi-billion dollar electrical utilities will soon be making major changes to their business plans

There's a fascinating story in yesterday's Salt Lake Tribune, reporting on a technological battle which is likely to be brewing before the Utah Public Utility Commission this year.  Here's the tantalizing lede:

Angled to the southeast, Stan Holmes’ home above the state Capitol has a great view of City Creek Canyon but a less optimal position for solar panels — they generate most of their electricity in the morning, not during afternoon surges in demand.
But his new 378-kilowatt system still produces more power than his family can use much of the year, and sends the surplus into the grid to power the neighbors’ lights, kitchens and air conditioners.
The photovoltaic array greatly reduces their utility bills, but "that’s not what drove us," said Holmes, a retired high school history teacher. "The idea was to do everything we could to reduce our carbon footprint."
The Holmes family is among 2,700 Rocky Mountain Power customers who "net meter" — earning credit for the excess power they produce — and this number is growing rapidly as the cost of solar installations drops. Now the utility wants to charge such customers $4.65 a month to help cover the grid’s fixed costs, those associated with transmission and distribution of electricity through a vast network of wires, transformers and substations.

Check out the full Brian Maffly story here, which frames the looming debate, as individual Utah solar panel advocates square off against the Rocky Mountain Power behemoth:

• Is a fee for solar energy users a 'sun tax' or fair play? 

By way of background, we'll link this timely Business Insider story, which doesn't paint a rosy picture for existing,(mainly tradtional)  fossil fuels-based electrical power industry:

• Barclays Has The Best Explanation Yet Of How Solar Will Destroy America's Electric Utilities

Our take? Executives of America's multi-billion dollar electrical utilities will soon be making major changes to their business model, particularly in view of the rapidly declining costs of rooftop solar arrays.

For our own part, we can see Rocky Mountain Power's point. Why shouldn't individual home owners such as Mr Holmes, folks who are selling home-produced electical power to RMP, make at least a "token" ($60/year annual) contribution to the upkeep of RMP's existing electrical grid infrastructure upkeep?.  On the other side of the coin, why should our PUC place any economic disincentaive at all to the broad adoption of solar power generation technology, a technology which is (in our never humble opinion) the "wave of the future."

In that connection we'll also link this handy online petition, for those Gentle Readers who are (unlike your blogmeister), Not Sitting On the Fence:

• CHAIRMAN ALLEN: NO TAX ON ROOFTOP SOLAR IN UTAH

Added bonus: A tantalizing new broad alternative to mere rooftop solar panels.  This is a new technology which is "coming up":



Nope, WCF lumpencitizens, the solar electricity revolution isn't limited to rooftop solar panels.

Update 7/30/14 8:00 a.m.:  The Trib carries this robust Brian Maffly morning story, reporting on the action at yesterday's PUC hearing, where "[a]bout 200 residents [gathered] outside the Salt Lake City headquarters of the Utah Public Service Commission before pouring into the Heber Wells building to address the three-member panel that regulates utilities," in protest of RMC's proposed "sun tax":.

• Commission hears debate over solar power fee

Well? Comments anyone? Ferris?