The Eagle Mountain City Council is hitting the pause button on approving a code amendment that would allow nuclear plants and other forms of advanced power generation facilities within its city limits.

During their meeting Tuesday night, the council decided to table the issue for the time being to weigh its pros and cons as well as potential risks that may impact the community.

The change would help facilitate the use of a variety of energy options in the city, including battery energy storage systems, solar energy projects, electrical substations, power lines and small modular reactors in the city’s Regional Technology and Industry overlay zone.

City officials say the current power demands are beginning to exceed Rocky Mountain Power’s capacity.

The city is exploring alternative energy options to match its rising population growth while meeting the needs of current and future economic developments.

“We’re growing super fast,” said Evan Berrett, the city’s economic development director. “We need to attract commercial and industrial development as soon as possible. That’s obviously my primary focus as economic development director, but it’s a hard sell if we don’t have the power, and that’s obviously something we need to remedy.”

Mayor Tom Westmoreland said he feels the city’s energy and transmission infrastructure is behind the curve and preparations for the future of energy generation should not be prolonged.

“Our appetite for electricity is growing at a huge rate and the technology is progressing very rapidly,” Westmoreland said. “And that technology benefits us, it makes us more efficient, it allows us to do more things.”

He went on to say the city needs to address current energy challenges to maintain a high quality of life and support economic development.

The mayor said he fears that not taking action at some point could have bigger impacts years down the road.

“I can’t even begin to imagine what the impact would be on a city of our size, just the blight that would begin to overtake us,” Westmoreland said.

However, following a lengthy and robust discussion about the need for more energy generation as well as the contribution of more than a dozen perspectives on both sides of the topic during a public comment period lasting to nearly 11 p.m., the council voted unanimously to not yet take action on the amendment.

The code change topic was previously discussed at a Eagle Mountain City Planning Commission meeting in December, at which the issue was also tabled so officials could take more time to research information about energy plants before making a decision.

During the planning commission’s meeting on Jan. 14, its members recommended a denial of the amendments, citing a list of safety concerns and indicating that the decision should be a more collaborative effort with other cities.

Tuesday’s city council meeting featured split opinions on the issue, some of which were from experts in nuclear technology.

The council opted to revisit the proposed amendment to the city’s code possibly after the 45-day legislative session, where state leaders have already begun discussing how nuclear power plants can fit into the future of Utah’s energy sources.

The Eagle Mountain City Council is also considering hosting a future town hall where city leaders, stakeholders and people in the field can take a deeper look at how alternate forms of energy generation can exist within the city.