President Donald Trump signed a slate of executive orders on Tuesday aiming to deregulate coal mining on federal lands and revitalize the industry nationwide.
“We’re ending Joe Biden’s war on beautiful, clean coal once and for all,” said Trump, while also instructing Energy Secretary Chris Wright to save Arizona’s first coal-burning power plant. “We’re going to keep those coal miners on the job. Can you tell them to just remain calm?”
It’s called Cholla, the northeastern Arizona power plant opened near Joseph City in 1962. The utility company Arizona Public Service owns the facility and told KJZZ it’s “evaluating” what Trump’s orders mean.
Meanwhile, Arizona state Rep. David Marshall — who represents the district where the now-idle Cholla plant sits — rejoiced with Republican colleagues at the state Capitol on Wednesday.
“The company has powered down the generators, stopped ordering the coal. It’s a sad moment,” said Marshall. “But today, we have hope.”
Last month, APS shut it down, citing federal regulations and rising costs “that have made the plant uneconomical to operate.”
Twenty-two state Senate and House Republicans sent a letter this month to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, urging him to halt the retirement of power plants in Arizona while reactivating those that have already been shut down.
On that closure list is the Four Corners Power Plant – which is also owned and operated by APS – located on Navajo land in northwestern New Mexico. The utility company has a lease with the Navajo Nation that is set to expire in 2041.
For now, Marshall doesn’t want Cholla to permanently close, like the Navajo Generating Station did in 2019, adding “many in the Navajo Nation did not support the closure of NGS, and yet, radical environmental groups push for it anyway.”
In a show of support, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren went to the White House signing — even snapping a selfie with Trump.
Before that, Burgum also met with Nygren in Window Rock for an hourlong February meeting, where the Interior secretary disclosed his coal priorities through his dual role as chair of Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council.
But some Navajos are concerned.
“They definitely don’t support bringing coal back. I would not underestimate the communities there,” said Nicole Horseherder, who is Diné and executive director of the nonprofit Tó Nizhóní Ání [Sacred Springs Speaks]. “There’s a lot that’s not being taken into consideration. It’s just a big publicity stunt.”
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