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Support Coal Community Transition on the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe

Join us in taking action to ensure coal community transition assistance is felt on the Navajo Nation.

After the closure of Navajo Generating Station (NGS), Navajo Communities in the Four Corners region lost both coal plant and coal mine jobs, and a steady revenue stream to Tribal Government overnight.  Critically, these operations also depleted significant water sources that were leased to support the mining and power plant.  Depleted water sources make it more difficult to effectively plant for economic development.  To bring awareness for the need to support economic transition in these impacted communities, Citizen Groups have intervened in the APS rate case. Right now, APS is in a rate case at the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) deciding upon the amount of funding for Coal Community Transition (CCT) support for the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe.

In 2019, the sudden and unexpected closure of NGS left several communities struggling to pick up the pieces that were inadequately supported by shareholders and owners of the coal-fired power plant. One of the shareholders included Arizona Public Services Company (APS). While APS owned only 14% of NGS, the public service company’s economic gain and ability to provide reliable electricity to customers in service areas outside of the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe are reasons that APS should be held accountable to both of the Tribes that suffered economic revenue loss after NGS’s closure.

A black and white photo of a factory with smoke coming out of it.
A black and white photo of a group of people holding signs.

One way to ensure community protection is through the Coal Community Transition proposal offered by APS. While we recognize that the package proposed by APS is not sufficient to address the massive disruptions and need for economic recovery and planning faced by coal-impacted communities, support of this package will help communities own and recover some losses experienced during the NGS closure.

 

Tó Nizhoní Áni, Diné C.A.R.E., Black Mesa Trust, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Vote Solar, and several other organizations have identified that all community members on Navajo and in surrounding communities were and are directly impacted by the operations of coal-burning plants partially owned by Arizona Public Services Company (APS). Fuel for each of these plants was provided exclusively by coal mines on or near land belonging to the Navajo Nation and Hopi Tribe.

Public Comment on APS Rate Increase

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