A groundswell for change: how one small utility is leading the charge to avert an energy crisis
The United States stands on the brink of an energy crisis, with the rapid decommissioning of reliable power plants threatening to destabilize the grid and push electricity costs out of reach for millions of Americans. While most utility leaders remain silent about this bleak future, an electrical cooperative in rural Eastern Utah, Moon Lake Electric Association, has taken a courageous stand to challenge prevailing federal energy policies, and is calling for a grassroots movement to secure the grid from disastrous federal energy policies.
Under the leadership of CEO Yankton Johnson, Moon Lake issued a Declaration of Impending U.S. Energy Crisis, warning that current policies are leading the nation toward an energy deficiency. These policies, driven by overly ambitious carbon-reduction goals, prioritize the rapid closure of coal-fired power plants without ensuring adequate replacements are in place. The result, Johnson argues, is a grid that cannot meet the surging demands of data centers, leaving Americans vulnerable to commonplace blackouts together with skyrocketing energy prices.
Johnson recently spoke to the Secure-the-Grid Coalition, a project of the Center for Security Policy which brings together energy and national security experts, legislators, and industry insiders dedicated to strengthening the resilience of America’s electrical grid from a variety of threats.
Johnson warned that the 2021 winter storm in Texas –when the average household electric bill in Texas jumped from around $140 to over $6,000 in a single month– will be a glimpse into the future if the current energy trajectory continues. And that will mean citizens driven into bankruptcy and even preventable deaths from unnecessary blackouts, caused not by storms, but by federal energy policies, such as the unrealistic push for net zero emissions by 2035 and carbon-free energy by 2050. While renewable energy sources like solar and wind have merit, Jonson says they cannot replace dispatchable power, especially during peak demand periods when the grid is most strained.
“We’re looking at a grid that’s not sufficient to deliver electricity when we need it most,” Johnson says, pointing to rising energy prices in states like California and Colorado, where renewable energy policies and closures of fossil fuel plants are already placing heavy burdens on consumers. In Utah and Colorado, Moon Lake has already seen wholesale power prices spike from $40 per megawatt-hour to over $160 per megawatt-hour due to supply shortages. These trends, Johnson stressed, will continue and worsen.
Johnson’s message is clear: immediate corrective action is necessary, and it starts at the local level.
His bold stance has already led to national attention, including responses from state officials in Utah who have implemented legislation to prevent the premature closure of base-load power plants without guaranteed replacements. But Johnson remains frustrated by the lack of progress in other areas, particularly in Colorado, where attempts to bring his concerns to the state legislature have so far been ignored.
Johnson also stressed the need for grassroots efforts saying, “It’s really refreshing for me to know that there are entities like [Secure the Grid] sitting around the table trying to mitigate through this stuff and trying to vet it and see what’s best for our country.”
During a Q&A session, Johnson acknowledged the risks he and Moon Lake face for speaking out so forcefully. “I’m kind of a gunslinger in a sense,” he admitted, explaining that while other utilities remain silent, he would rather look his member/customers in the eye and say he tried, rather than stand by as disaster unfolds.
While a severe energy crisis is imminent with the path governmental policy is currently on, Johnson is adamant that it is not too late to change course.