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PacifiCorp’s 20-year electricity plan for Utah dials back on coal, amps up on wind and solar

Utah’s electricity customers will be getting a lot less of their power from coal and a lot more from renewable sources over the next several years under a plan PacifiCorp unveiled Thursday.

The owner of Utah’s largest utility plans to retire 16 of itscostliest coal-fired power-generation units by 2025, although it still expects to get 20 more years of life from Emery County’s Hunter and Huntington plants.

But two major Wyoming coal plants’ days are numbered under PacifiCorp’s draft Integrated Resource Plan, the utility’s road map for meeting electrical demand in its six-state service area.

Much of that lost power generation will be offset by new solar and wind projects representing 7,000 megawatts, according to Jon Cox, vice president of government affairs for Rocky Mountain Power, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp.