Flagstaff, Ariz. • A Navajo Nation energy company studying the purchase of a coal-fired power plant on the reservation says it’s looking into the mine that supplies it, too.
The tribal government asked the Navajo Transitional Energy Company in October to look into acquiring the Navajo Generating Station near Page along the Arizona-Utah border. Its owners are closing it in December, citing cheaper power from natural gas.
The energy company says it wants to keep the plant and Kayenta Mine open for at least another 10 years to preserve hundreds of jobs held mostly by Navajos, as well as the revenue.