St. George Rep. Lowry Snow (left) smiles as House Speaker Brad Wilson (R-Kaysville) announces the future installation of electric car chargers in Utah. Snow is sponsoring the bill to help make it happen. (Photo: Kelli Pierce)
SALT LAKE CITY – Rocky Mountain Power has announced it is spending $50 million to install hundreds of electric vehicle charging stations around Utah.
CEO Gary Hoogeveen was at the Utah State Capitol on Monday for the announcement. He said 57% of Utah’s air pollution comes from the tailpipes of gas-guzzling vehicles.
“We can be part of the solution, and as an electricity supplier, we’re definitely part of that solution when we can encourage people to buy or use electric vehicles,” Hoogeveen said.
Representative Lowry Snow (R-St. George), who is sponsoring legislation to help the project, is pleased that rural areas will get chargers as well. Snow said many people who want to buy an electric vehicle in Utah worry about running out of a charge.
“The concern is ‘if I buy an electric vehicle and I need to travel from St. George over to Moab, is it going to be able to get me there?'” Snow said.
“I think for rural Utah, having access to the same kind of infrastructure that we would expect on the Wasatch Front will be a big plus.”
Hoogeveen said regular people will not see a difference in their power bill because the money is coming out of an existing fund.
It’s unclear when the charging stations will be installed, but the state is coming up with a five-year plan to build a bigger infrastructure for electric vehicles.
Car dealerships sold about 2,000 electric vehicles in Utah last year.