The closure of the Navajo Generating System in Coconino County in 2019 is expected to cost the county $40 million of its 2022 budget, according to county officials.
County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Lena Fowler says the budget impacts a large number of government programs, as well as the county and the state.
“You have the flood district, you have the health district, and the library district, and then you have the county community college, and just the Paige Public School alone is gonna lose over $4 million a year,” said Fowler.
But she feels the closure’s impact reaches further than $40 million.
“I think about NGS, and just the great impact to the whole region and the state, we lost high-paying jobs and high-degree individuals from our community. We lost population, so the ripple effect is great,” she said.
The Coconino County Board of Supervisors has joined forces with the Navajo Nation and officials from surrounding states to bring more energy jobs into the region. The county has also begun making improvements to cities to bring in more residents.
