PAGE, Ariz. (AP) — A lease allowing a coal-fired power plant on the Navajo Nation to operate through 2019 has received final approval.
The tribe and most owners of the Navajo Generating Station near Page signed off on it earlier this year.
But the document also needed the OK from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and a former owner in the power plant. Those approvals came ahead of Friday’s deadline.
The Salt River Project and other owners decided in February to shut down the generating station in favor of power produced by natural gas.
Under the lease, the Navajo Nation will keep some buildings on site and the rail line that transports coal 80 miles. The tribe also could use existing transmission lines for other energy projects.
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