Coal lease discussion:
The Navajo Nation Council debates a new $350 million lease that could allow a coal plant near Page to stay open two more years. Arizona power companies have agreed to run the Navajo Generating Station through 2019 if the tribe approves a new lease by the end of this week.
RYAN RANDAZZO
The Navajo Nation Council on Monday debated a new $350 million lease for the coal plant near Page that could allow it to remain open another two years.
Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service Co., Tucson Electric Power and NV Energy have agreed to run the Navajo Generating Station through 2019 if the tribe approves a new lease by July 1. Otherwise, the utilities have said they will close the facility because it is more economical to buy power from natural-gas plants.
The coal plant and mine that supplies it employ about 750 people, nearly all members of the Navajo and Hopi tribes. The tribes both also benefit from coal sales from the mine and other economic activity associated with the operations.
The tribe’s council has proposed amendments dealing with everything from water rights associated with the plant to paying some of the lease upfront.
SRP officials have told the tribe some amendments are acceptable and some are not, but the final say must come from the collective owners. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation also owns a share of the plant and is striving, along with some tribal officials, to keep it open even beyond 2019 with new owners.
But if the current plant owners and the tribe can’t agree on a deal for the next two years, it is unlikely to reopen with new owners. The council did not take a final vote on the lease by press time Monday evening. The lease was a controversial subject for the tribe and council members. Protesters for and against the coal operations posted handmade signs outside the council chambers in Window Rock on Monday, according to photos shared with The Arizona Republic. “NGO(s), U don’t support my family or pay my bills,” read one pro-coal sign.
“Drop coal like Cali,” read an anticoal sign, referring to California’s anticoal rules. Much of the debate among tribal council members was whether the Navajo Nation can take disputes with the lease to Navajo Court or whether potential disputes would be settled in state or federal court.
SRP leaders met early Monday to discuss the negotiations ahead of the tribe’s vote. In addition to the $110 million in continued lease payments through 2054 that would allow SRP to decommission the plant and monitor the site for several years, the new lease has several benefits for the tribe that are at risk if the lease is not passed.
The Navajo Nation has identified several pieces of the operation it wants to keep when the plant closes, including the railroad between the plant and the coal mine, valued at $120 million; the lake pump facility and electrical switch yard, valued at $41 million; and access to major transmission lines leading from the plant, which SRP values at about $80 million.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker has a new Paradise Valley home to head to after a phenomenal 70-point scoring game.
He paid $3.25 million for a 5,600square-foot house near Scottsdale Road and Lincoln Drive on Friday, according to public real-estate records.
Twenty-year-old Booker, called the future of the Suns by many sports analysts, bought a modern-style home in one of the last new subdivisions in Paradise Valley.
Booker, who always attracts crowds of fans, is only the sixth player in NBA history to score more than 70 points during one game.
His new home comes with four bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a dining room with wine cellar, a chef’s kitchen overlooking an outdoor living area with fireplace, retractable glass doors and a four-car garage.