This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Congratulations, Moab! Your City Council just voted to make you one of the first cities in the nation to run all of its domestic, commercial and government buildings on 100 percent renewable energy. With time, your resolution will help your community cut its total greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent.

These are great goals, and necessary ones now that climate change is upon us. They're also nearly identical to the goals passed by the Park City Council and our own Salt Lake City Council this past year. I mean, who doesn't support the idea of making our homes and businesses run on clean, renewable energy?

It turns out, Rocky Mountain Power doesn't. The utility's recent actions against rooftop solar would seriously harm the burgeoning clean energy industry in Utah.

So, while Moab, Salt Lake City, and Park City are busy planning to meet citizen demand for all forms of clean energy sources, Rocky Mountain Power is proposing a new rate hike that threatens to derail the shared goal of becoming 100 percent energy renewable by 2032.

This proposed rate hike is not only counter-intuitive but counter-productive, considering the advances in solar energy that Utah has made to date. Solar energy has reduced our dependency on fossil fuels at a time when national energy costs are on the rise. This has made solar power increasingly attractive to Utahns, and generated over 2,600 jobs here, as well as 16,000 new solar power customers.

Rooftop solar is the fastest way for individuals and cities to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, saving tons of dangerous carbon pollution and toxic chemicals from being released into the air.

And over time, solar energy saves people money. Utahns with rooftop panels sell the power they produce from solar energy back to the electricity grid, getting credit for the energy they export, which also benefits them financially. A rooftop solar panel system for a typical size home in the Wasatch, for instance, could save a family as much as $800 per year.

But Rocky Mountain Power's proposed rate hike would substantially reduce these financial benefits. If passed, the hike will slash the credits homeowners receive by 65 percent and impose an unavoidable monthly $15 fixed charge for new rooftop solar customers. On top of this, the hike comes with a confusing "demand charge" that will require solar customers pay $9 per kilowatt hour during peak energy times. Essentially, running the dishwasher on a weeknight will slap solar users with a hefty and unavoidable fine.

Higher fixed fees and lowered energy compensation punishes Utahns who want to invest in our state's clean energy future, while rewarding higher energy users.

This rate hike will not only devastate the booming solar industry in Utah, but will keep our communities chained to the fossil fuel economy. The fact is, there are no long-term benefits for Rocky Mountain Power's proposed hike comparable to the ones that solar energy provides, such as avoiding the need for new power plants and long-distance transmission lines, and cutting down on fossil fuel emissions.

Take a bow, Moab. I look forward to continuing to fight alongside you for a fair and expedient transition to clean energy sources. Visit sc.org/moab to join the fight!

Paisley Rekdal is the director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Utah. Her book of poems, "Imaginary Vessels," has just been published, and a book of nonfiction, "The Broken Country: On Trauma, A Crime, and the Continuing Legacy of Vietnam," will be out this fall.