LECHEE, Ariz. – The Navajo Generating Station may soon have a new owner and a new operator in place, both of which would keep the plant going beyond 2019. 

Negotiations between the Navajo Nation, global investment firm Avenue Capital, and power plant consultant Middle River Power are now underway, according to the Navajo president’s office. 

 “A task force has been working on continuing operations at NGS,” Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye told the Lake Powell Chronicle late Thursday evening. “The task force is comprised of myself, Speaker (of the 23rd Navajo Nation Council) LoRenzo Bates, members of Council, division directors, and staff from (the Navajo Nation Department of Justice). We’ve been interviewing companies interested in purchasing and managing the power plant.”

Begaye said after narrowing it down to two potential companies, he and Bates selected Avenue Capital, a firm that focuses on stressed and distressed companies across numerous sectors.

“We believe Avenue has the most potential, not only to become owners of the plant but also to sell the power from the plant,” Begaye said. “The selection is just the beginning. It's the preliminary step. There is still a lot of negotiation to take place, not only with the Navajo Nation but also (Salt River Project, the current operator), NGS owners and Peabody (Energy). There are still quite a number of steps.” 

Bates says it has been a challenging process to get to this point. Citing high electricity costs, the five owners – Arizona Public Service, Bureau of Reclamation, NV Energy, Salt River Project, and Tucson Electric Power – voted last February to close the plant at the end of 2019. The Bureau of Reclamation though wanted to explore ways to keep the plant open. 

“I’m confident that we will negotiate an agreement that benefits the NGS and Kayenta Mine workers and the entire Navajo Nation,” Bates told the Lake Powell Chronicle this evening. “At the end of the day, it will be the decision of the Navajo (Council) whether … it moves beyond 2019 (or not).” 

To successfully negotiate an agreement, Begaye says, the task force will have to work hard as an agreement must be drafted by the Council’s fall session in October, during which members of the Council will discuss. 

“This will be a major feat in itself as these types of negotiations usually take two to five years,” Begaye said. “Here, we’re talking about two to three months to get this accomplished. However, I am very confident in the team because we have already been through several of these negotiations. We know the major points that need to be negotiated hard.”

Hopi Chairman Timothy L. Nuvangyaoma wrote in a statement that the Hopi Tribe is hopeful that these negotiations will be a success for the economic benefit of the Hopi and the Diné people. 

Joe Frazier, manager of NGS, said in late May that 2017 was a year of uncertainty and NGS workers were asked to finish strong. 

Decommissioning efforts though are underway, but the plant needs to be staffed appropriately with personnel through 2019, Frazier said at that time. 

“The bottom line is that it takes around 500 people to run those units,” Frazier said as he explained the redeployment phase of the plant personnel. “All of our NGS employees out there, they will receive a job offer …. They don’t have to accept it, but they will be given an offer.”

Frazier says that all regular employees will be provided with an opportunity to redeploy within SRP.

“We also provide NGS employees with the benefit and financial information to help them make (the choice of either staying with the company or retiring),” he explained, “or moving on to something else. So, we’ll help them do that.” 

Frazier says this means that there is a new world of possibilities for plant workers’ careers. So, SRP partnered with a handful of career placement agencies such as Coconino County Rapid Response, a pre-layoff and reduction in force assistance program; Navajo Nation Department of Personnel Management, and jobs within APS and Tucson Electric Power. 

“We run some 520 personnel (362 are regular plant workers; 49 are either provisional or temporary),” Frazier explained. “There’s 262 out there that have not received a job yet.  All 362 will receive a job offer. The rest will probably move on to something else or retire.”