By Alixel Cabrera | Reporter
This was the year Utahns would see a relief on gas prices after the Utah Legislature approved a temporary tax break at the pump. So why are Utahns paying prices above the national average?
That’s the main question House Speaker Mike Schultz asked legislative auditors and officials from the Utah Office of Energy Development — especially after he fought lawmakers in Idaho and oil industry executives for the legislation that dropped the state’s gas tax by 15% this year.
In today’s Dispatch we cover why legislative leaders are taking another look at energy taxes and incentives, a Miami inspired program for homelessness, and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright’s thoughts on the second highest oil-producing state.
“My concern is Utah taxpayers are subsidizing these tax credits, but yet the other states, surrounding states, are getting the benefit from that.” — Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz on Utah’s energy tax credits and gas prices.
Marathon Petroleum Company’s Salt Lake City Refinery in Salt Lake City is pictured on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
By Alixel Cabrera
Utah is among the states with the highest gas prices in the country, with AAA recording an average of $4.36 per gallon, surpassing the $4.06 national average.
The tax pricing issue has remained a top priority for Schultz this year. However, in the middle of the Iran war and other tensions, Utahns continue to pay more for gas at the pump than residents of other states. Amid that conflict, Schultz is eyeing how incentives like the High Cost Infrastructure Tax Credit are working in the state.
From left, Utah’s homeless coordinator Tyler Clancy, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, and former Judge Steven Leifman hold a news conference at the Utah Capitol in Salt Lake City on Aug. 18, 2026. (Katie McKellar/Utah News Dispatch)
By Katie McKellar
Inspired by the “Miami model” in Florida — where Miami-Dade County has been diverting nonviolent people with mental illness away from jails and into mental health facilities — Utah state, city and county leaders are taking the next steps to put a plan into action.
The mastermind behind the “Miami model,” former Judge Steven Leifman, sat with Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, and the state’s homelessness coordinator Tyler Clancy to detail their efforts.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks with Mewbourne Oil Company CEO Ken Waits on Aug. 18, 2026, during a visit to a Mewbourne oil production facility in Hobbs, New Mexico, as part of his “Great American Energy Comeback Tour.” (Patrick Lohmann/Source NM)
SOURCE NEW MEXICO
By Patrick Lohmann
During a visit to Hobbs, United States Energy Secretary Chris Wright said that New Mexico — already the nation’s second highest oil-producing state — still has even more to offer as President Donald Trump seeks to boost domestic energy production.
Wright’s comments came after a tour of a Permian Basin oil production facility as part of a series of stops his department has dubbed the “Great American Energy Comeback Tour.”
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