Nov 18, 2019:
Largest coal plant in the West shuts down, dealing financial losses to Native American tribes
Aug 27, 2019:
Mar 22, 2019:
Last night, a committee of Navajo Nation Council delegates voted 11-9 to allow the Navajo Generating Station and the Kayenta Mine to close at the end of this year.
Nov 11, 2018:
Looming Shutdown Of The Navajo Generating Station Means New Jobs Far From Home | NPR
Sep 21, 2018:
Middle River Power of Chicago, Illinois and Avenue Capital (Middle River's affiliated New York investment firm) announced they will not be purchasing or taking over the operation of the Navajo Generating Station.
Jun 7, 2018:
Feb 6, 2018:
Nov 29, 2017:
Arizona coal plant to stay open through 2019 | The Hill
Jun 26, 2017:
Navajo Nation OKs new lease for Navajo Generating Station coal plant | The Arizona Republic
Navajo power plant likely to close, despite Trump's promises to save coal | NPR
May 5, 2017:
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced it will host four listening sessions in Arizona during the week of May 15th. The sessions will give members of the public, local, state, and tribal elected officials, and other stakeholders an opportunity to express their views on the future of the Navajo Generating Station.
Interior to Hold Public Listening Sessions on Future of Navajo Generating Station | usbr.gov
Apr 6, 2017:
In Phoenix, Arizona, Peabody Energy Corp. presented the results of a study (conducted by Navigant Consulting Inc.) to the Arizona Corporation Commission which says that the NGS is capable of making money through 2040, despite competition from less expensive natural gas.
The study makes the case that future natural gas prices may rise as demand increases (making coal more competitive), and that keeping the NGS would help Arizona retain a more diverse energy portfolio. In addition, Peabody proposed a reduction in the price of its coal sold for use by the NGS.
Coal Industry Makes Pitch To Keep Navajo Generating Station Open | KJZZ
Peabody Joins the Fight to Rescue U.S. West’s Biggest Coal Plant | Bloomberg News
Commission Investigates Future of Coal Industry and Navajo Generating Station | azcc.gov
Peabody Energy hopes to land buyer for troubled Navajo Generating Station | The Arizona Republic
Mar 1, 2017:
At the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C., an "economic review" meeting was held to discuss the possibility of a lease extension for the operation of the Navajo Generating Station and to discuss potential new ownership after 2019.
Attending the meeting were current utility owners, government officials, tribes, and other stakeholders.
At the meeting, three different task forces were created - one to address a lease extension, one to put together proposals for future plant ownership after 2019, and one to address what the Navajo Nation will require for reclamation of the site.
Another meeting is scheduled for April 12.
Feds seek ideas to keep Navajo Generating Station in Arizona open | The Arizona Republic
According to an NPR article entitled "Navajo Workers At Coal-Fired Power Plant Brace For Its Closing":
The Navajo Nation has relied on the coal industry for the last four decades. The energy companies have provided hundreds of families with some of the best-paying jobs on the reservation. The revenue, taxes and royalties all make up about a third of the tribe's operating budget.
The Salt River Project, the plant operator, says natural gas is much cheaper and makes more economic sense. A plant closure means the coal mine that feeds the plant would also likely shut down. Together, the Navajo Generating Station and the mine that feeds the plant employ about 800 people.
Feb 14, 2017:
An op-ed article written by The Arizona Republic editorial board states that the vote to shutdown the NGS and the plants future was determined by "market forces" and "simple economics".
But in this case [the NGS], defending a costly dinosaur in the name of less regulation was a distraction from a changing market.
Environmentalists, who loathed the plant as one of the top polluters in the country, also failed to see past their own preconceptions. They often see regulation as their best friend. But in this case, energy prices and the evolving nature of power generation were better allies in their campaign against NGS.
The hardest reality in this story is that the Navajo and Hopi nations will suffer greatly as a result of the decision by the utilities that own NGS to close the plant when their lease expires in 2019.
The closure of NGS will result in the loss of about 430 jobs in an area of high poverty and high unemployment. There will be another 325 jobs lost with the closure of Peabody Energy's Kayenta Coal Mine on Black Mesa, which fuels the power plant and reportedly has no other place to sell its coal. The communities that rely on those jobs have few other resources. What's more, the tribes themselves currently get royalties, payments and water-use fees as a result of the mining and power generation.
If a plan to keep NGS running does not make economic sense, it will not bring a long-term solution to the industries involved, those who rely on the energy produced or rural communities in Arizona that need high-paying jobs.
Source:
Editorial board. (February 14, 2017). "Our View: The market doomed Navajo Generating Station, not the feds". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
Feb 13, 2017:
The owners of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in northern Arizona (near Page) voted to shutdown the plant when it's current lease expires at the end of 2019.
The five co-owners of the plant are Salt River Project (SRP), the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power Co., and NV Energy. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation did not vote.
The Navajo Nation owns the land on which the Navajo Generating Station is built. The plant owners must arrange to decommission the plant after the lease expires - otherwise they will have to close the plant at the end of 2017 to have time to tear down the plant's three generators and be gone by 2020.
The main reason for the shutdown is economics - natural-gas-fired power plants generate electricity at a lower cost.
Utilities vote to close Navajo coal plant at end of 2019 | The Arizona Republic
5 things to know about Navajo Generating Station's possible closure | The Arizona Republic
Feb 2, 2017:
In a letter to Salt River Project (SRP) President David Rousseau, Andy Tobin, one of five members on the Arizona Corporation Commission, calls for an "emergency summit" to try to save the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station.
In the letter, Tobin expressed concern about SRP's recent "surprisingly hostile attitude toward the Navajo Generating Station". Tobin also referred to SRP's vision as "myopic" (shortsighted, narrow-minded).
Source:
Randazzo, Ryan. (February 2, 2017). "Arizona regulator Andy Tobin calls for emergency summit to save Navajo Generating Station near Page". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
Background and Organization | azcc.gov
More:
- Navajo Generating Station | usbr.gov
- When coal-fired power plant closes, this mine will die. So will a lifeline for one Native American tribe | The Arizona Republic
- 5 things to know about Navajo Generating Station's possible closure | The Arizona Republic
- No disruptions expected at Navajo coal plant despite Peabody bankruptcy | The Arizona Republic
- War on coal? Forget about it! It's a war on natural gas | The Arizona Republic
- Pollution and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Power Plants | Health and Wellness Resource