Energy Independence
The Key to a Self-Reliant Utah!
We recently became the first family in our neighborhood to install rooftop solar panels. Not only is it better for our family budget, but we want to do our part to be good stewards of our beautiful state.
As part of the process, I had to secure approval from our homeowners’ association. As I did so, I discovered that several of my neighbors were also interested in solar, but because they’re Spanish speakers, they didn’t feel comfortable approaching the HOA themselves. I’m a bilingual returned missionary, so I was able to represent these neighbors at HOA meetings and bring their concerns before the board. We developed a waiver form that every homeowner in our development will be able to use if they want to go solar. Delivering that paper to my neighbors made me realize just how much I enjoy serving constituents—especially those who would’ve had no voice otherwise! I hope to serve your family in the same way in our Utah Legislature.
Utah has phenomenal potential for renewable energy. With proper investment, there’s absolutely no reason why we can’t continue to export power to the rest of the West. Solar, wind, geothermal, hydropower, and even net-zero natural gas all deserve our legislature’s attention. Unfortunately, they’re not getting enough. I propose that we:
Increase incentives for cities and citizens to invest in renewable power, and particularly in home battery systems.
Protect citizens’ right to generate wind and solar electricity on their own property from unreasonable HOA and municipal interference.
Ensure that no power company can ever pay rooftop solar producers less per kilowatt-hour than they pay other energy producers.
Ensure that we have sufficient steady power generation (hydro, geothermal, nuclear, etc.) and battery capacity for times when wind and sunshine aren’t available.
Upgrade our state’s electrical grid to handle the difficulties of climate change as well as the technical hurdles of renewable power sources.
Invest as much renewable energy production as possible in those areas of the state that are losing fossil fuel extraction jobs, including retraining workers.
Try to save Lake Powell’s Glen Canyon Dam (and its tourism industry) by conserving water across Utah.
I believe that self-sufficiency and environmental stewardship go hand-in-hand. Even if the climate were not in crisis, switching to renewable power sources would still be better for Utah jobs, Utah’s air quality, and Utah families’ budgets. I want to teach my girls how to be self-reliant. I also want to teach them to be good stewards of our beautiful world. By becoming a self-reliant family in renewable power generation, I can do both. We should also do both as a state.
A vote for Daniel Craig Friend is a vote for an energy independent Utah.
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