10/03/2026
Arizona Public Service has changed course on the future of the Four Corners Power Plant, confirming the coal-fired station will continue operating beyond its previously planned 2031 exit date, as reported by PR Newswire.
The utility says Arizona's rapidly growing electricity demand and the need for dependable generation helped drive the decision. How long Four Corners ultimately remains online will be determined through APS's resource planning process, although the plant's lease allows operations through 2038.
The decision also gives the neighboring Navajo Mine a much clearer future.
Owned by Navajo Transitional Energy Company, the mine supplies the coal burned at Four Corners and employs more than 350 people, most of them Navajo Nation members or members of other Native American tribes.
NTEC says the Navajo Mine generates more than $128 million in annual economic activity. Taxes and royalties connected to the mine and power station account for approximately 35% of the Navajo Nation General Fund.
In 2025 alone, NTEC contributed another $1.7 million to Navajo Nation communities.
Four Corners, located in northwestern New Mexico, is the last coal-fired power plant operated by APS. The utility owns 63% of the remaining Units 4 and 5 and receives roughly 970 megawatts of generating capacity from the station.
APS had previously planned to leave coal entirely by 2031.
That timeline has now changed.
Four Corners won't receive an automatic run to 2038, but coal generation there will continue beyond 2031 while APS evaluates exactly how long the plant is needed.
For the Navajo Mine and hundreds of workers tied to the operation, that represents several more years of potential production, employment and revenue.
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Photo: Google Earth
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