Western Governors to Meet in Deer Valley, Releasing Energy Report in 2026

Deer Valley's Stein Eriksen Lodge will host the Western Governors' Association's 2026 Annual Meeting from June 30 through July 2, bringing together the governors of 22 western states and territories, with an invitation extended to President Trump, as Utah Gov. Spencer Cox prepares to release a year-long energy policy report on home soil.

The gathering marks Cox's final act as WGA Chair, a role he assumed at the 2025 Annual Meeting in Santa Fe after succeeding New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a handoff that underscored the organization's bipartisan structure. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, the current Vice Chair, is expected to receive the gavel from Cox at the Deer Valley meeting.

Cox's chair initiative, titled "Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West," will culminate with the release of its final report during the summit. The initiative centers on expanding energy production, transmission, and storage across the region, a priority Cox identified at the outset of his chairmanship, saying his focus over the coming year would be on meeting the West's growing demand for energy.

The Trump invitation carries particular weight given recent tensions at the national level. Earlier in 2026, Trump moved to exclude Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis from the National Governors Association's annual White House gathering; the NGA canceled the event rather than proceed with a partisan guest list. The WGA's outreach, spanning both Republican and Democratic governors across the 19 states and three U.S. territories it represents, stands in sharp contrast.

If attendance mirrors last year's gathering, Summit County should expect a substantial federal footprint. The 2025 Santa Fe meeting drew seven Western Governors and five U.S. Cabinet Secretaries, including Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin. That meeting was not without friction: Rollins announced the Trump administration's intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, prompting public lands advocates to picket outside the venue.

The Stein Eriksen Lodge is no stranger to high-profile consideration. In 2019, the property was identified as a candidate site when the Trump administration explored hosting the G-7 summit in the Park City area. Utah's longest-running Forbes Five-Star resort, the lodge sits mid-mountain at Deer Valley Resort with the infrastructure and logistical capacity that large governmental gatherings require.

Founded in February 1984 through a merger of the Western Governors Conference and the Western Governors' Policy Office in Washington, D.C., the WGA is headquartered in Denver and operates as a vehicle for bipartisan policy development on issues critical to the West. Cox's energy report will be the centerpiece deliverable of a meeting that brings that mission to his own backyard.