PinalCentral
The Gila River Indian Community is asking a federal judge to dismiss the Hopi tribe’s request to compel a state agency to continue buying power from the Navajo Generating Station.
The coal power plant, which was scheduled to close next year, supplies energy to move Colorado River water down to central Arizona for recipients like the Gila River tribe.
Central Arizona Project had been buying power from NGS to transfer water to many of Arizona’s Native American tribes. But after the power plant announced plans to close, CAP began looking for alternative power sources in the open market.
The United Mine Workers of America and Peabody Western Coal Co. filed court papers earlier this year asking CAP to be compelled to continue buying power from NGS.
The Hopi tribe, which along with the Navajo Nation, supplies coal to NGS, is also named as a plaintiff in the court case.
