---
type: "Bill"
title: "Geothermal Study Amendments"
description: "Geothermal Study Amendments"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ut"
legislature: "Utah Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 401"
citation: "Utah HB 401 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Clean Energy", "Energy", "Higher Education", "Office of Energy Development", "Public Utilities and Technology"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Watkins, Christine F."]
version_count: 7
action_count: 55
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2026-01-27T21:14:05+00:00"
last_action: "2026-03-25T16:25:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4d1427dc-4bed-4619-afcf-3dbf46c8c03e"
source_url: "https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/HB0401.html"
source_hash: "e3d897de1a49102bc6171e601c4729cb6d21b9223e1f307d41aac4319a62b5cf"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ut"]
---

# Utah HB 401 (2026) — Geothermal Study Amendments

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0401.xml)
2. **Amended 2/12/2026 12:02:307** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AV_HB0401_2026-02-12_12-21-31.pdf)
3. **Amended Excerpts 2/12/2026 12:02:307** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/AP_HB0401_2026-02-12_12-21-31.pdf)
4. **Comparison to Original Bill** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/CP HB0401 To HB0401S01.pdf)
5. **House Amendment 1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/amended/HB0401.Hamd.1.pdf)
6. **Substitute #1** (committee substitute) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/introduced/HB0401S01.xml)
7. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2026/bills/enrolled/HB0401.xml)

## Votes

- House/ passed 3rd reading — **61–10** (pass) · lower
- House/ concurs with Senate amendment — **66–4** (pass) · lower
- Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension — **26–0** (pass) · upper
- Senate/ passed 2nd reading — **23–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Watkins, Christine F. — primary (person)
- Hinkins, David P. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-27T21:14:05+00:00** Bill Numbered but not Distributed
- **2026-01-27T21:14:05+00:00** Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed
- **2026-01-27T21:14:07+00:00** LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0401
- **2026-01-27T21:14:07+00:00** LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0401
- **2026-01-28T14:50:38+00:00** House/ received bill from Legislative Research `receipt`
- **2026-01-28T18:51:45+00:00** House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- **2026-01-29T19:35:12+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0401
- **2026-01-30T18:51:06+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0401
- **2026-01-31T01:11:13+00:00** House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst `receipt`
- **2026-02-02T19:14:15+00:00** House/ to standing committee [House Public Utilities and Energy Committee] `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-03T23:25:16+00:00** House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Public Utilities and Energy Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-04T18:13:29+00:00** House/ committee report favorable [House Public Utilities and Energy Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-04T18:13:30+00:00** House/ 2nd reading
- **2026-02-12T18:55:33+00:00** House/ 3rd reading
- **2026-02-12T18:57:06+00:00** House/ floor amendment
- **2026-02-12T19:02:17+00:00** House/ passed 3rd reading `passage`
- **2026-02-12T19:02:19+00:00** House/ to Senate
- **2026-02-12T20:08:40+00:00** Senate/ received from House `receipt`
- **2026-02-17T17:26:53+00:00** Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
- **2026-02-17T21:25:08+00:00** Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee] `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-18T23:17:57+00:00** Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-19T17:24:13+00:00** Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Transportation, Public Utilities, Energy, and Technology Committee] `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-02-19T17:24:14+00:00** Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
- **2026-02-25T22:08:05+00:00** Senate/ 2nd reading
- **2026-02-25T22:10:25+00:00** Senate/ passed 2nd reading `reading-2`
- **2026-02-25T22:10:34+00:00** Senate/ 3rd reading
- **2026-02-25T22:10:43+00:00** Senate/ placed on 3rd Reading Calendar table
- **2026-03-05T00:06:06+00:00** Senate/ 3nd Reading Calendar to Rules [Senate Rules Committee]
- **2026-03-05T17:17:55+00:00** Senate/ Rules to 2nd Reading Calendar
- **2026-03-05T17:17:56+00:00** Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar
- **2026-03-05T17:25:19+00:00** Senate/ circled
- **2026-03-05T17:43:24+00:00** LFA/ bill assigned to staff for fiscal analysis for HB0401S01
- **2026-03-05T17:43:24+00:00** LFA/ bill sent to agencies for fiscal input for HB0401S01
- **2026-03-05T17:52:30+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note sent to sponsor for HB0401S01
- **2026-03-05T18:24:21+00:00** LFA/ fiscal note publicly available for HB0401S01
- **2026-03-05T22:39:01+00:00** Senate/ uncircled
- **2026-03-05T22:39:40+00:00** Senate/ substituted
- **2026-03-05T22:41:20+00:00** Senate/ passed 2nd & 3rd readings/ suspension
- **2026-03-05T22:41:21+00:00** Senate/ to House with amendments
- **2026-03-05T23:47:12+00:00** House/ received from Senate `receipt`
- **2026-03-05T23:47:13+00:00** House/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
- **2026-03-06T01:29:36+00:00** House/ concurs with Senate amendment `amendment-passage`
- **2026-03-06T01:29:37+00:00** House/ to Senate
- **2026-03-06T18:01:12+00:00** Senate/ received from House `receipt`
- **2026-03-06T18:01:13+00:00** Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House `passage`
- **2026-03-06T18:01:14+00:00** Senate/ to House
- **2026-03-06T22:35:33+00:00** House/ received from Senate `receipt`
- **2026-03-06T22:35:34+00:00** House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling `passage`
- **2026-03-07T06:12:45+00:00** Bill Received from House for Enrolling
- **2026-03-07T06:12:49+00:00** Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
- **2026-03-11T17:21:08+00:00** Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate `enrolled`
- **2026-03-11T17:21:09+00:00** House/ enrolled bill to Printing
- **2026-03-12T18:57:31+00:00** House/ received enrolled bill from Printing `receipt`
- **2026-03-12T18:57:33+00:00** House/ to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-25T16:25:00+00:00** Governor Signed `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4d1427dc-4bed-4619-afcf-3dbf46c8c03e`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Utah legislature records).