Source: kjzz.org
Workers from the Navajo Generating Station and the Kayenta Mine in northeast Arizona will be in Phoenix on Tuesday. They’re calling for action to save the NGS power plant, which is slated to close at the end of next year.
The utility companies that co-own the Navajo Generating Station say they can get power elsewhere more cheaply.
The scheduled shutdown affects hundreds of workers at the station and the Kayenta Mine, which supplies it with coal.
Many of the workers at the plant and the mine are member
s of the Navajo and Hopi nations. The NGS also pays royalties to the tribes.
The United Mine Workers union is urging station owners to sell the plant rather than shut it down.
“We believe there are at least four potential buyers for this power station,” said Cecil Roberts, the union’s president. “Why would you close it, creating all this pain and suffering for many, many others, when somebody wants to give you money for it?”
The mine’s owner, Peabody, has hired a financial firm to work on securing a buyer for the NGS. No buyer has yet come forward publicly.
SRP and other private owners say a sale is possible, but the longer it takes for a buyer to secure a solid deal, the harder a sale becomes.
By Bret Jaspers
