Operators contemplate closure

Reed lives in Page. He has five adult children and eight grandchildren. He was 15 when his family moved from Missouri to Arizona. His father worked at SRP, vulcanizing conveyor belts, and retired in 1998.

Like all plant workers, the pending closure is on his mind. But Reed runs a sport-boat charter business on Lake Powell. He used to offer fishing charters, but it’s easier towing customers around on water skis or inner tubes than it is to find hungry fish every day, he said.

If the plant closes before he is ready to retire, he’ll just commit more time to that business, he said.

But the threat of closure hangs heavy over some of the approximately 393 workers, 90 percent of whom are Native Americans.

Freddie Hatathlie has worked at the plant for 25 years. He is from Coal Mine Canyon, on the reservation.

He attended Arizona State University for engineering but didn’t finish his degree.

He joined the Army and, after his initial term, enlisted in the Army Reserve. He was called up after 9/11 and deployed to the Middle East.

Work at the plant has allowed him to stay in northern Arizona. He recently was training for a new position as a train operator after working in power operations.

Ron “Skyhorse” Little has been running the train for 28 years and worked elsewhere in the plant for a decade before that. He is from Navajo Mountain and now lives in Page.

He has a daughter who attended Northern Arizona University and now works for another tribe outside of Phoenix. His son is in college.

Little, 56, said it has been good work considering he had no prior training.

“I learned it all here in the yard,” he said. “I don’t have any schooling. I learned on the job.”

He said he doesn’t want to see the plant close, but he worries more about younger workers than for himself.

“My retirement is coming up,” he said. “I pretty much don’t have to look around.”

If no new owner comes forward in the next few weeks, SRP likely will begin taking action for the eventual decommissioning of Navajo Generating Station — covering over the 765-acre coal-ash disposal area and landfill, dismantling the power plant and its equipment.

In documents submitted to the government, the utility pledged to restore the area “as nearly as may be possible to its original condition” by December 2024.