This effort began in Salem, but the issue is no longer limited to one community.

Last year, Salem residents organized a petition opposing a proposed high-voltage transmission line near their homes. Since then, the project has grown and changed, and concerns surrounding major transmission infrastructure now extend across Utah County.

Rocky Mountain Power’s Spanish Fork-to-Mercer project proposes approximately 45 miles of new 345-kV transmission infrastructure across Utah County, extending from the Spanish Fork Substation in Mapleton to the Mercer Substation near Eagle Mountain. The project involves communities and areas including Mapleton, Spanish Fork, Salem, Payson, Genola, Goshen, West Mountain, and the Eagle Mountain area. Proposed steel monopoles are approximately 90–135 feet tall, generally spaced 600–800 feet apart, within an approximately 125-foot right-of-way.

As the project has developed, another significant change has occurred.

Utah County approved Rocky Mountain Power’s request to remove Conditional Use Permit (CUP) requirements for certain power infrastructure. This reduced a layer of project-specific review, public notice, and local oversight that previously applied through the CUP process.

Conditional Use Permits provide a mechanism for proposed projects to be reviewed individually, potential impacts to be evaluated, and reasonable conditions to be imposed where appropriate. For communities facing large-scale infrastructure projects, that process provides an important layer of local review and public participation.

Public oversight matters most when decisions are large and their consequences are long-term. Rocky Mountain Power has an important responsibility to provide reliable electrical infrastructure, but that responsibility should exist alongside meaningful transparency, public review, and local oversight. When a utility requests changes to the very permitting requirements through which its projects are reviewed, the public should have a meaningful opportunity to understand, participate in, and scrutinize those changes.

This is where the original Salem petition and the current countywide effort intersect. Salem residents initially organized because a transmission project was proposed near their homes. The broader issue now affects communities throughout Utah County: what opportunity will residents have for meaningful review and participation when major transmission infrastructure is proposed in their communities?

We have formally submitted a request to the Utah County Commission seeking reconsideration and reversal of its prior action removing Conditional Use Permit requirements for certain electrical infrastructure. In conjunction with that request, we have submitted proposed amendments to the Utah County Land Use Ordinance that would restore CUP requirements and the associated project-specific review process for major electrical transmission infrastructure.

This effort is not about preventing necessary electrical infrastructure. It is about ensuring that major infrastructure decisions are made with transparency, accountability, appropriate local review, and meaningful public participation.

Add Your Name

If you believe residents should have meaningful notice, review, and a voice in major high-voltage infrastructure decisions, please sign this petition.

Your signature supports our request to restore Conditional Use Permit requirements and project-specific public review for major electrical transmission infrastructure.

Please sign and share this petition. Every signature strengthens the public record supporting transparency, local oversight, and meaningful public participation.

Questions, concerns, or want to review the underlying filings and documents? I’m happy to answer questions and provide copies.

Chrissy Watson | 801-735-3376