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Navajo Generating Station Background Sheet: pre-EPA NOx and SO2 rulemaking

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The essentials

  • The Navajo Generating Station (NGS) is a 2,250 megawatt coal-fired power plant located a few miles from the beginning of the Grand Canyon, within the Navajo Nation, near Page, Arizona
  • About 25% of the electricity generated at NGS is dedicated to pumping Central Arizona Project (CAP) water from the Colorado River from behind Parker Dam over 300 miles to metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson.
  • The NGS draws its cooling water from nearby Lake Powell.
  • The Environmental Protection Agency is in the process of issuing new guidelines restricting air pollutants from industrial facilities that restrict visibility, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen oxide (NOX) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).
  • The regional haze reduction guidelines will impact NGS operations, which in turn could impact community health and water quality locally, as well as water quality, water availability, and water rates in those areas served by the CAP.
  • It is feasible that these new guidelines may influence a decision to close NGS.