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Mesa Indigenous Support
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Box 23501, Flagstaff, Arizona 86002 Message Voice Mail: 928.773.8086 Email: blackmesais@riseup.net Newsletter:blackmesais@lists.riseup.net |
By SETH MULLER 10/24/04
The Peabody coal mine on Black Mesa that generates $86 million in royalties
a year for the Navajo and Hopi tribes survived a key regulatory ruling
earlier this week.
On Wednesday, an administrative law judge for the California Public
Utilities Commission ruled that the coal-fired Mohave Generating Station in Laughlin,
Nev., could recover costs incurred to date toward planning for a major
overhaul of the plant rather than shutting it permanently.
Still to come is a key decision on whether the plant will be able to pay for
the $1.1 billion project by raising electric rates for customers.
"This is a tentative, but heartfelt, victory for all Hopi people," Tribal
Chairman Wayne Taylor Jr. said in a released statement Thursday. "The CPUC has
acknowledged the importance of Mohave to California ratepayers. And in doing
so, it has pointed out the devastating impact a plant shutdown would have on
the Hopi economy."
The Flagstaff-based Grand Canyon Trust had successfully sued majority plant
owner Southern California Edison in order to get it to upgrade emission
controls.
Edison had asked the utilities commission to decide whether it is in the
public interest to shut down or continue operation of the plant, which provides
electricity to 1.5 million homes, mainly in California.
The cost and timeline to upgrade means that the plant will have to shut down
temporarily for at least 3 1/2 years starting in 2006 -- a closure that
would cost the Navajo and Hopi tribes a total of 240 jobs and $86 million a year
in coal royalties.
But the Utility Commission's early ruling determined that it was reasonable
to proceed with a temporary shutdown and the upgrade rather than abandon the
plant and the new pollution controls as not cost-effective. This decision
will still require 30 days of public comment and a final approval by the
commission.
When final, the ruling also will recommend Edison continue negotiations with
the two tribes and that the corporate owner of the mine, Peabody Energy,
continue negotiations to secure water and coal supplies.
Peabody has moved into a challenging phase because its 35-year coal supply
agreement to Mohave expires the same date as the start of the expected
shutdown.
The coal is transported by a 273-mile water slurry pipeline to the plant,
and the water comes from what's known as the Navajo aquifer, which also
provides drinking water to the Hopi Reservation.
The Hopis want to switch to the Coconino aquifer, with best access to it
located near Winslow. The proposed ruling calls for Edison to assist with
funding of the water study. One estimate has put the cost of the water pipeline at
$300 million.
Taylor, in testimony last summer before the commission, said the continued
operation of the Mohave Generating Station "is of the greatest importance to
the continued social and economic well being" of the 12,000 members of the
Hopi Tribe.
It relies on the mine for one-third of its budget, and this spring its
members voted against developing a casino for economic relief.
A third tier of the commission ruling calls for Edison to study using
sustainable energy as part of operations at the generating station.
"We at Hopi fully support alternative and environmentally friendly energy
sources," Taylor said. "Indeed, the Hopi land, energy and water task teams have
been meeting with firms involved with solar, wind and other methods of
energy production as part of a long-term strategy ... for economic development on
the Hopi Reservation."
http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_includes/story.cfm?storyID=96659
Reporter Seth Muller can be reached at 913-8607 or smuller@azdailysun.com.
Copyright 2004 Arizona Daily Sun