Navajos braced should coal-fired plant shut down

PAGE, Ariz. — Communities on the Navajo Nation are bracing for the economic fallout from the possible shutdown of a coal-fired power plant.

Closing the Navajo Generating Station and a coal mine that provides the plant’s fuel would lead to an estimated loss of 2,400 jobs in the community, reported the Arizona Daily Sun.

Plant owners including the Salt River Project have a lease until 2044 that requires them to pay the Navajo Nation about $42 million annually.