They’d barely believe their eyes if they saw Beaver County today: From the world’s most advanced geothermal project using fracking technology to tap the Earth’s heat, to massive batteries that strengthen the grid, to solar and wind farms that turn abundant elements into electrons, new energy projects are meeting surging power demand and creating local economic development.

Beaver County is evidence that innovation generates income for communities that could have become ghost towns, but are now thriving with strong schools and public services. Zoom out statewide and you’ll see this dynamic generating jobs and millions in investment.

Just a few weeks ago, Utah beat several states to secure a next-generation small modular nuclear test reactor in Emery County. “To be honest, it was a tight race,” said Governor Spencer Cox. But “Utah is the place where we get to do innovation.”

Unfortunately, our economic engine could grind to a halt if the “One Big Beautiful Bill” working its way through Congress isn’t changed.

The bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by only one vote and is now being debated in the U.S. Senate, would repeal nearly every federal policy like tax credits, grants and loans for the cutting-edge technologies that have sparked our Made-In-America energy boom.

At least one of our federal officials is standing up for Utah. When Sen. John Curtis toured Fluence’s Tooele County battery manufacturing facility in late May, he said proposed energy policy repeals in Congress’ bill is “a problem for the future, and I’ll say not just to clean energy, but for all energy.” His proposed solution is phasing out the clean energy tax credits instead of abruptly ending them — a good compromise so our utilities and the investors building projects here can plan accordingly. Sen. Curtis’ pragmatic stance has drawn attacks from the Washington, D.C.-based political organization Club for Growth, which says his support for our true all-of-the-above energy strategy is a “liberal mistake.” But that out-of-state organization’s attack isn’t the reality for those of us who live here.

These federal policies have attracted more than $13 billion in total announced clean energy and transportation investments across 74 new projects since late 2022, creating thousands of new announced jobs putting Utahns to work building high-tech products that produce homegrown energy. Energy Innovation, the non-partisan research firm where I work, analyzed the economic damage the “One Big Beautiful Bill” could do to our state. Utah would lose 9,400 jobs in 2030 and another 2,900 jobs in 2035, while cumulative statewide GDP would fall $10 billion in a decade. Utahns’ energy bills would increase $230 per household in 2030 and $510 in 2035 — adding up to $2.8 billion in higher statewide energy bills cumulatively through 2034.

These economic losses stem from fossil fuels’ inherently volatile prices, limiting the ability to build all forms of energy cuts off options to cut our energy bills and grow our economy. Natural gas prices could nearly double this year, and the statewide cost of coal-fired power skyrocketed 70% from 2021-2024. Eventually, utilities pass that cost onto families and businesses. Meanwhile wind, solar and geothermal have zero fuel costs once built.

Utahns already dodged one bullet on this front — Rocky Mountain Power’s 2024 request to increase residential power rates 30.5% was cut to about 4% in April by the Utah Public Service Commission, but the utility admitted fossil fuels were the culprit. “These costs are specifically for fuel, for power plants, that’s primarily coal and natural gas,” said a Rocky Mountain Power spokesperson.

Holding back our ability to build diverse energy resources also threatens Utah’s “Operation Gigawatt” goal of doubling power production over the next decade to meet rising demand. Solar power composed 93% of all the energy capacity added statewide since 2015, and clean energy is the fastest available resource we can build to can meet soaring power demand. But if the federal bill passes as currently written, Utah would lose out on 4.3 gigawatts of electricity generation capacity by 2030 and 4.6 gigawatts by 2035.

Building new energy projects takes millions in private investment and years of planning. Repealing federal energy policies would pull the rug out from proposed energy projects and manufacturing facilities across our state, and we may never recover.

There’s so much at stake for Utahns in the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” and energy is no exception. Inflation is rising, and we simply can’t afford being endlessly stuck on the fossil fuel roller coaster.

As Congress deliberates the bill, we deserve an energy future that empowers us to grow. Any other outcome means Utah loses.

Sara Baldwin is senior director of electrification policy at non-partisan energy policy think tank Energy Innovation, a resident of Salt Lake City and a fifth generation Utahn.