NAVAJO MOUNTAIN, Utah (AP) — Officials in remote areas of Utah and Arizona say the recent decision to shut down a coal-fired power plant in northern Arizona is expected to cause about 1,000 job losses in an area already struggling with high unemployment.
Owners of the Navajo Generating Station in Page, Arizona, voted earlier this year to close the plant and the coal mine that supports it by 2019.
The closing of the station, and the coal mine that supplies it, could hit small communities in the area, including the Navajo and Hopi tribes, whose members depend on the facilities for jobs, government revenues and coal for heating homes.
KSL-TV (http://bit.ly/2oQORSD) reports communities like Page, near Lake Powell, can fall back on tourism. Other areas, like the remote Utah town of Navajo Mountain, residents say they’ll rely on livestock, farming and crafts to survive.