APS: Four Corners Power Plant to Close by 2031

Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 7:21 PM

The goal includes a nearer-term 2030 target of achieving a resource mix that is 65 percent clean energy, with 45 percent of our portfolio coming from renewable energy. APS will end all coal-fired generation by 2031, seven years sooner than previously projected.

Arizona Public Service Company (APS) today announced its goal to deliver carbon-free electricity to customers by 2050. Along with the announcement came the news that the utility would end all coal-fired energy generation by 2031, seven years ahead of schedule. Arizona Public Service company is the main operator of the Four Corners Power Plant west of Farmington.

APS did not say what impact this announcement would have on the adjoining Navajo Mine, which is operating by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company (NTEC) a wholly-owned limited liability company of the Navajo Nation.

Statement from APS:

Today marks a historic milestone in the 134-year history of Arizona’s largest electricity provider as Arizona Public Service (NYSE: PNW) announces a goal to deliver 100 percent clean, carbon-free electricity to customers by 2050. The company has been on a trajectory of increasingly clean energy through solar power innovation, major investments in energy storage technology, carbon-free nuclear operations and advances in energy efficiency solutions. Now, the company’s destination for that path is set as the boldest clean-energy goal of all Arizona electric companies, as well as one of the most ambitious in the country.

The goal includes a nearer-term 2030 target of achieving a resource mix that is 65 percent clean energy, with 45 percent of our portfolio coming from renewable energy. APS will end all coal-fired generation by 2031, seven years sooner than previously projected.

“We see incredible things ahead for Arizona, and are excited to power our state’s future with electricity that is 100 percent clean,” said APS Chairman and CEO Jeff Guldner. “We’re starting from an energy mix that is 50 percent clean today, including energy efficiency and electricity from one of the nation’s largest solar fleets and the country’s most powerful carbon-free and clean energy resource – the Palo Verde Generating Station."

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