Dive Brief:

• Utah residents and small businesses could buy renewable energy through cities and counties under a bill in the Utah Legislature.
• The bill would allow “community choice aggregation,” and will be reviewed by a legislative panel this week.
• The bill expands on legislation passed in 2012 that enables large customers to buy at least 2 MW of renewables. The bill was pushed by eBay, which wanted to buy more renewables to meet its company sustainability goals.
• Ebay will buy 5 MW from geothermal company Ormat, which is building a waste heat recovery system for an eBay data center.

Dive Insight:

Utah has renewable goals for its utilities, but no required renewable targets. PacifiCorp, which operates in Utah as Rocky Mountain Power, is a leader in wind generation. If approved, the bill would expand Utah's renewable market.