A Visit to Price, Utah.
By Representative Brian King, Salt Lake City, District 28
Recently I had the opportunity to visit Price, Utah along with many of my colleagues from the Democratic House and Senate caucuses. It was a great opportunity for all of us to learn about issues that are most important to the people who live and work in rural Utah. As an urban legislator, I don’t deal on a day-to-day basis with the issues that affect our rural communities. Our trip gave us a greater appreciation for rural issues like water, land use, and energy development, all of which have a huge impact on rural Utah. Our trip helped us to understand the degree to which these issues affect the entire state.
We also enjoyed a tour of the Huntington Power Plant at the mouth of Huntington Canyon. While I was on the tour, I realized how much time, effort and money goes into generating electricity. It was fascinating, and I gained a greater understanding of the technologies and complexities of how we generate electricity. For instance, I had no idea that the coal used in power plants is crushed down to the consistency of flour for burning in the boilers. It was very educational and worthwhile.
Alison and I, and our children have spent time in Carbon and emery Counties on various occasions in past years and we were reminded again of the beauty and diversity of the region. Balancing the need to protect the natural beauty of that area with our need to create a favorable economic climate for Carbon adn Emery counties will be a real challenge. But it will be critical for us to watch that line effectively.
The following article was published in the Sun Advocate on September 1, 2009 and provides a good overview of our trip and everyone’s impressions. A special thank you to Representative Christine Watkins, who represents those areas, for setting up the trip and for her generous hospitality.
Legislators and Power
By RICHARD SHAW
Sun Advocate publisher
*Images coutesy of Richard Shaw, Sun Advocate
http://www.sunad.com
Nine legislators from the urban areas of Utah visited eastern Utah over the weekend. During a Friday night reception and a tour on Saturday, their eyes were opened to many issues of which they previously had limited knowledge.
“I worked on hate crimes legislation for six years and thought that was controversial,” said Representative David Litvack, (D) District 26. “But I found that that issue holds no water to water. Water is a very heated and often debated issue. During the session, the deal with Sanpete County wanting to build a dam came up. But being from an urban area, I had a lot of things going and probably didn’t understand it. Now I have heard from people who will be affected by it.”
The group of three state senators and six members of the House of Representatives, all from the Democratic caucus, spent Friday night at a dinner hosted by Representative Christine Watkins (D) District 69 at her home in Miller Creek. Several county officials attended the dinner with the legislators and took the time to explain local issues to them.
“It was really a good thing,” said Watkins on Saturday. “We had county commissioners, representation from the college and other entities there to talk about issues concerning the community, including water, land use, the colleges’ situation, energy development and other items.”
On Saturday, many of the same legislators toured the Huntington Power Plant at the mouth of Huntington Canyon, visited the Crandall Canyon mine memorial above the defunct mine, and spent some time at Huntington Park eating lunch and listening to a briefing from Castle Dale Mayor Neal Peacock. Then they got to see the San Rafael Swell’s Wedge Overlook, an area where much controversy regarding land use has swirled over the years. All marveled about the memorial above the Crandall Canyon mine as they walked through the sacred ground dedicated to the six miners and three rescuers who died in the mine over two years ago. They were also impressed by the community spirit shown in all the tributes given to the miners both there and at the memorial in Huntington.
The Wedge was another place that blew them away. Only one legislator had visited the Swell previously. They all said they couldn’t believe the beauty and majesty of viewpoint and said that it wasn’t more prominently known in the state.
But the power plant tour was the center of the day. All had good words for PacifiCorp, its managers and employees.
“I think what I got out of that tour was the detail, the sequential steps it takes to generate power,” said Litvack. “The part about the mines and the mining industry almost seemed to me to be a separate thing from power generation before I went on the tour. But it’s not. I was also very pleased to see the emphasis the plant has on worker safety and the environment. You could tell that the people that gave us the tour (plant management) care deeply about those things.”
Representative Brian King who represents District 28 in Salt Lake City was also impressed by what he saw.
“I thought it was amazing,” he said. “You know you take this kind of stuff for granted. But when you go through on the tour, you start to realize how much time, effort and money goes into generating electricity. And it is so complex from a technological viewpoint. For instance, I had no idea that the coal used in power plants is crushed down to the consistency of flour for burning in the boilers.”
Representative Carol Spackman Moss (D) District 37 was impressed by the safety and environmental measures the plant has taken. She also thought the master control room was amazing.
“I was surprised by that control room that takes care of the entire plant,” she said as she stood on the edge of one of the Wedge viewpoints. “It looked like NASA. It’s also amazing that they run that plant with as few employees as they do.”
Litvack also said the trip was a time to get to know people in the state who weren’t necessarily his constituents, but were other members of the Democratic Party.
“I came up here to connect with people who I may not represent, but [who] are members of the same party,” he said. “I also came here to understand issues in a different way. It wasn’t necessarily that we were coming here to change our viewpoint so much as to gain a better understanding. When you have a better understanding of an entire issue, you make better decisions.”
