Gas is Cheap Here, and It's Everywhere
Natural gas in Utah is inexpensive and it reaches nearly every populated part of the state. Most homes already have a line running to a furnace or a range, so extending it to a fireplace is usually a straightforward add. That baseline is hard for any bagged fuel to compete with on running cost.
Pellets Aren't Easy to Get Across Much of the State
A pellet stove is only as convenient as its fuel supply, and across large parts of Utah that supply is thin and seasonal. A ton of pellets runs somewhere around $300 to $350, and you need somewhere dry to keep it. That's a manageable arrangement in a market built around pellet. It isn't one here.
A Pellet Stove Stops When the Power Does
This is the one that settles it. Pellet stoves need electricity—augers, fans, and a control board. In a canyon or at a cabin, the hours you most want heat are frequently the hours the power is out. Wood needs nothing. Gas with a self-powered pilot needs nothing. Pellet needs the grid.
For those homes the shops in this network point you at wood, and they'll say so plainly rather than sell you the wrong appliance.
A Clean Pellet Stove is a Happy Pellet Stove
One more thing worth saying, because nobody says it at the point of sale: pellet stoves need cleaning weekly when you're burning regularly. The burn pot gums up with ash and clinkers, the air holes plug, and performance drops. Most people who end up unhappy with a pellet stove were never told that up front. If you already own one and it's misbehaving, that's the first place to look.