Arizona Public Service (APS) announced this week that Unit 4 at Cholla Power Plant will be closing by the end of the 2020 calendar year.
According to APS Northwest Division Community Affairs Manager Janet Dean, “Cholla Unit 4 is wholly owned by PacifiCorp, an electric utility company with service territory in several Western states. APS serves as the operator of the unit. PacifiCorp recently notified us that they plan to retire Unit 4 at the end of 2020.”
Dean explained that APS would continue operations of the remaining units as usual. However, “Cholla Unit 4 is no longer economic to operate on behalf of PacifiCorp’s customers, for a variety of reasons specific to PacifiCorp’s own load profile and resource mix.”
The closure, Dean said, is consistent “With scenarios for the unit that they published in Integrated Resource Plans filed in 2017 and again in 2019.”
Cholla Power Plant has been running three of four units since 2016. Following an Obama era plan for cleaner air, the plant, along with other coal burning facilities nationwide are required to bring their emissions levels to below 2005 levels by 2025.
In light of the Unit 4 closure, Dean said, “PacifiCorp’s decision does not change APS’s plans for Cholla units 1 and 3. Our agreement with the EPA related to regional haze rules is for Cholla to stop burning coal by 2025. Exactly when those units retire depends on several variables, including customer growth and demand in APS service territory, market conditions for coal and APS’s obligation to serve customers with reliable energy sources at affordable prices.”
Dean also commented on the potential of effects on the workforce at Cholla, “We know the impacts from this announcement are of great interest to our community partners. It is too early in the planning to know if there will be any involuntary workforce reductions. Our goal certainly will be to prevent or minimize those if possible.”
Navajo County has greatly relied on tax revenue from Cholla for years. However, according to Assistant County Manager Bryan Layton, the closure of the plant has been on the radar. “Preparing for the closure of Cholla and the Kayenta Mine and the resulting loss in property tax has been a top priority for several years. The proposed Jail District tax approved by voters effectively replaces the loss of these coal revenues and allows residents to continue to receive services at existing levels.”
Districts affected by the loss of revenue are county services, school, library and fire districts. Layton is confident in the jail district tax replacing said revenue and sees no impeding loss of jobs or services in the near future despite the PacifiCorp unit closure.
