SRP ceases efforts to restart Mohave Generating Station
February 6, 2007 by pathfinder
Filed under Mining & Water
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 2007
SRP Ceases Effort to Restart Mohave Generating Station
Concludes that Timeline Delays would Render the Facility Economically Unfeasible
Salt River Project, a 20 percent owner of the Mohave Generating Station (MGS) in
Laughlin, Nev., is ending efforts to return the plant to service.
Returning the Mohave facility to service would have provided much-needed energy
to Arizona and the growing greater Phoenix metropolitan area. However, after
efforts failed to reach a purchase agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE),
the majority owner and operator of MGS, SRP has concluded that it will be unable
to bring the facility back into service with the appropriate environmental emission
controls in sufficient time to make it economically feasible for SRP customers.
SRP believes SCE intends to continue with its ongoing effort to identify
potential new buyers for Mohave.
The 1,580-megawatt plant has been shut down since December 2005, pursuant
to a consent decree. In June 2006, SCE and two other co-owners, Nevada Power
Co. and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, announced they would
no longer pursue a restart of the plant. In September 2006, SRP announced its
plans to seek a new ownership group to extend the life of Mohave.
SRP had formed a new ownership group that was prepared to complete a number
of steps including, among others, the construction of approximately $750 million
in additional pollution-control systems that would have significantly reduced
emissions from the plant, exceeding the requirements of the consent decree.
Located on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations in northeastern Arizona. The new
ownership group was prepared to commit to providing infrastructure that
would have made groundwater from the new system available to nearby Hopi
and Navajo communities that are currently without fresh-water delivery facilities.
In addition, a restart of Mohave would have extended the coal operations at the
Black Mesa Mine, providing greatly needed employment for tribal members and
revenue for education, medical care and other social services for the Navajo and
Hopi Indian communities.
