EPA approves plan to close two units at San Juan Generating Station

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a state plan that would close two coal-fired units at San Juan Generating Station in Waterflow by the end of 2017 and save the plant owners $780 million, according to a press release. The plan was proposed 18 months ago. It was written by the New Mexico Environment Department, the Public Service Company of New Mexico, and the Navajo Nation. The plan would help the plant meet federal emissions requirements under the Regional Haze Rule. Without the state's plan, the utility said it would have to install catalytic emissions-reducing technology that could have cost upwards of $1 billion dollars. The state's plan would close two of the four units and install non-catalytic emissions reducing technology, saving the utility about $780 million through the next 20 years, a PNM release stated. However, the closing of units at San Juan Generating Station could cost the area jobs. He said the company might not lay off its employees, but he fears there won't be the same amount of work for the approximately 300 contract employees who now work at the power plant...more