On Thursday, Sept. 19, Utah Governor Spencer Cox made a stop in Carbon County for a Rural Affairs Engagement Session, which was hosted in the Commission Chamber of the Administration Building.
Carbon County Commissioner Casey Hopes introduced Governor Cox to the crowd, which was filled to the brim with community members, business owners, members of the media and local officials, as well as some of the individuals on the governor’s team. Commissioner Hopes stated that Governor Cox has done a great job for rural Utah and highlighted some of the needs that have been put on the back burner for a while.
The governor stated that these engagement sessions are something that is done often and he knows that the community has a lot of thoughts and ideas. After introducing some of his team in attendance, the governor explained that he created a couple of positions that are new to the government.
Governor Cox stated that energy is starting to get more attention and is a major crisis in the country. He continued by saying that, sadly, there is a big misunderstanding about base load power, what it means and how it works.
The governor said that solar and wind are good and important and there are several great solar projects. He stated that Utah is an all-of-the-above energy state and what became clear to him is the need for power is far outpacing the supply right now. For years, he has been hearing that everyone will drive electric vehicles and there will be a major need for power for them.
Governor Cox then spoke briefly about the uprise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), saying that what was underestimated was the advent of AI. He explained that there is a global arms race when it came to AI. China has a head start, Russia is not far behind them and the United States is trying to keep pace.
He acknowledged that there is large discussion on whether or not AI is a good or bad thing, though he did have a conversation with a researcher at the University of Utah that was looking at biopsies of prostate cancer. AI can tell who would benefit from certain hormone treatments, which the governor said was incredible, because the treatments can cure the cancer for the right patient. However, if it is the wrong patient, the treatment is a bad thing.
Governor Cox stated that AI will be amazing and change lives, though there are definitely some downsides, and as a state they are working to figure out how to regulate that. The data centers that run AI are unlike anything seen before and the amount of power needed is almost incomprehensible. The entire state of Utah runs on about four gigawatts of power and the upcoming projects are more than double the state of Utah.
He said that the question is “what are we going to do?” as every state is facing this energy crisis. The governor said that there is a need to figure out how to start building very quickly base load power, making sure that there is the ability to do that. Those are the conversations being had now.
Governor Cox stated that Utah should be exporting all the energy possible because it can be done better and cleaner than by anyone else. There is a need for railroads, highways and freeways to get goods in and out of Utah, and Carbon and Emery counties are a great location for advance manufacturing.
The governor spent the last half hour of the meeting by opening the floor to answer questions. With the crowd, he discussed carbon capture, energy production, sequestration and housing.
“You all know better what you want Carbon County to be, and our job is to make your dream come true,” Governor Cox concluded.
