Navajo coal-impacted community members travel to Tucson, Arizona, for the Tuscon Electric Power rate case to provide testimony and public comment on the need for just and equitable transition support for tribal coal-impacted communities.
For Immediate Release, April 12, 2023
Contact:
Adrian Herder, Tó Nizhóní Ání, info@tonizhoniani.org
Nicole Horseherder, Tó Nizhóní Ání, info@tonizhoniani.org
Navajo Coal-Impacted Communities Seeking Transition Support from Tucson Electric Power
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Navajo coal-impacted community members traveled to the Arizona Corporation Commission – Tucson Office to testify and provide public comment before the Administrative Law Judge at the Tucson Electric Power rate case Monday, April 10, 2023.
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has asked the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), the public utilities commission of Arizona, to allow it to increase rates and service fees by nearly $200 a year for the average residential customer. Tucson Electric Power is an owner of three coal-fired power plants that have operated on or near the Navajo Nation for more than 50 years.
Two of those – Navajo Generating Station and San Juan Generating Station – have now closed permanently, and the last one, Four Corners Power Plant, will shut down within the next ten years. Yet, while other utilities have committed to providing assistance to help the Navajo Nation and communities like Farmington, where two of the plants are located, TEP has done nothing.
TEP has not set aside a single dime to help in the economic transition and has not planned to site replacement clean energy projects near these coal-impacted communities. After profiting for a half-century from the sacrifices made by these communities so its customers could reap the benefits of cheap power and water, it’s time for TEP to give back.
Any approval for a rate increase MUST include funding to support coal-impacted communities as we try to rebuild economies that have been or will be devastated by the retirement of main economic drivers. Citizen groups, Tó Nizhóní Ání, Diné C.A.R.E., Black Mesa Trust, and San Juan Citizen Alliance, have intervened in this rate case to advocate for just transition support for our coal-impacted communities.
To view our testimonies, see the links below:
- San Juan Citizen Alliance – April 5, 2023 – Click Here (03:17:34 – 04:27:15)
- Tó Nizhóní Ání – April 10, 2023 Click Here (00:09:46 – 01.49:00)
- Black Mesa Trust – May, 2023 Click Here for Live Schedule
