This story appears in the 2025 Advisor, a publication sponsored by Colliers Utah.
Experts warn that Utah is headed toward an energy crisis.
Operation Gigawatt, Utah’s ambitious renewable energy initiative, seeks to avert an energy shortage and maintain the state’s position as a leader in power.
“Operation Gigawatt has four key objectives,” says Emy Faulkner Lesofski, Gov. Spencer Cox’s energy advisor and new director of the Office of Energy Development. “First, increasing transmission to get energy where it’s needed; second, developing new energy resources and securing what we have; third, enhancing our policies to enable clean energy resources like geothermal and nuclear; and fourth, investing in innovation and research. These objectives are intended to secure baseload, get energy to where consumers and industry need it, and foster innovation, taking things from the lab to the market.”
With this project’s implantation, no other industry stands to benefit more directly than real estate.
Where land meets power
“The commercial real estate sector is the largest economic tool that the state of Utah has … [and is] responsible for the velocity and opportunities that exist to attract occupiers, bringing in billions of dollars of investment to the state every year,” says Tom Freeman, vice chair at Colliers Utah.
Rising energy costs, lack of diverse power sources and struggling infrastructure drove the private sector to raise concerns with state leadership. As a result, Freeman helped set up a political action committee to get the initiative moving.
“Utah is one of the most diverse economies in the country, and that’s [driven by] the commercial real estate world,” Freeman says. “It’s no secret that the demand for power is ever increasing as the world changes. Without an investment into our utility sector, our economic development is going to come to a screeching halt.”
“We’re not just avoiding an energy crisis; we’re turning this into an opportunity, positioning Utah as an energy leader, innovator and net energy exporter.”
— Emy Faulkner Lesofski
Dr. Bryony Richards, an economic geologist and senior research scientist at the Energy & Geoscience Institute at the University of Utah, agrees with Freeman.
“Energy-intensive industries such as artificial intelligence, data centers and advanced manufacturing stand to gain significantly from this expansion, as they require consistent, high-capacity energy to sustain operations,” Richards says.
In 2022, Richards says total energy consumption throughout the state reached 849 trillion Btu, or “British Thermal Units,” a unit of measurement used to determine the heat. She says demand is only going to increase as new technology, like AI, adds additional pressure to our grids.
Keeping up with the gigawatts
Over the next 10 years, Operation Gigawatt seeks to address this issue by doubling Utah’s capacity to generate energy — an additional four gigawatts — through what Lesofski calls an “any- and more-of-the-above” approach.
“Our geography has gifted us with a wide range of resources,” she says. “We are only one of seven states that generate utility-scale geothermal power, and Operation Gigawatt will further develop our state’s untapped but substantial geothermal potential. Eight out of 10 homes in Utah are heated with natural gas; we were No. 14 in the nation for solar generating capacity. You can see that we use all our resources, and we need more of these resources if we are going to get to that additional 4GW.”
Richards’ research focuses on identifying and recovering these resources.
“We’re examining historical mine waste for valuable minerals, which could supply the raw materials needed to build a resilient energy infrastructure,” Richards says. “By integrating such projects into the energy supply chain, Utah is enhancing its ability to support technologies critical to the energy transition, such as advanced batteries and hydrogen electrolyzers, again feeding back into Utah’s energy cycle.”
Nuclear energy is also on the table for Operation Gigawatt.
“Most of the contention around nuclear power stems from outdated technologies and negative depictions in popular media,” Lesofski says. “Today’s nuclear power is vastly safer and more efficient than the nuclear power of yesterday, but these are technologies and data that aren’t well-socialized yet. Nuclear power’s strengths of unmatched energy density, safety and ability to meet environmental goals are why states like Utah have been considering adding this resource to their energy mix.”
Projects like the UAMPS (Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems) and NuScale small modular reactor initiative aim to develop safer, efficient and easy-to-integrate reactors that can continue quell nuclear power unrest.
Power for the people
It’s not just corporations who stand to lose if Operation Gigawatt isn’t implemented — the average resident would take the biggest day-to-day hit.
“There’s already been a large increase [in energy costs] to the end consumer,” Freeman says. “The consumer is you and me — people that turn on their lights or use the garbage disposal. We’re seeing increases in energy bills. That’s not keeping us in a competitive state, and it will absolutely stymie our ability to continue to be a leader.”
No one wants to move to — or stay — in a place that can barely keep a dishwasher running, Freeman says.
Richards says part of the beauty of Operation Gigawatt’s design is that while it supports corporations and industries, it’s also looking out for the individual.
“Residents benefit from the stabilization of energy prices and increased grid reliability, reducing the risk of blackouts or price spikes,” she says. “By doubling the state’s power production over the next decade, the initiative aims to ensure a reliable and affordable energy supply to support economic growth, community needs and technological advancement.”
Operation Gigawatt isn’t meant to be a Band-Aid for the energy crisis — it’s meant to be a diving board.
“We’re not just avoiding an energy crisis; we’re turning this into an opportunity, positioning Utah as an energy leader, innovator and net energy exporter,” Lesofski says.
She, along with other Operation Gigawatt partners, hopes to see Utah become the example of energy usage for the rest of the country.
“I’m confident the projects we’re undertaking and the timelines we’re achieving will serve as a template for other states,” she says. “It’s both an honor and exciting to be part of the team driving this vision forward, creating an abundance of energy here at home, and securing our role as the energy powerhouse of the West.”