APS Moves to Extend Life of Four Corners Coal Plant Beyond 2031 Retirement Deadline

Arizona Public Service has confirmed it signed a coal supply agreement with Navajo Transitional Energy Co. that would keep its Four Corners generating station burning coal until 2038, walking back a prior commitment to shutter the facility in 2031. The utility disclosed the arrangement during a Wednesday session of its Resource Planning Advisory Committee.

The decision carries consequences that stretch well beyond the plant’s smokestacks. According to the Sierra Club, extending operations means Arizonans will absorb higher electricity bills even though retiring the plant on schedule could have spared customers millions. The advocacy group also points to worsening air quality, sustained water consumption, and public health risks, particularly for communities near the New Mexico site. Navajo Nation tribal members have reportedly dealt with the plant’s pollution for generations.

The extension lands against the backdrop of mounting scrutiny of APS’s fossil-fuel strategy. Sierra Club recently released a report arguing that the utility’s ongoing reliance on natural gas locks Arizonans into volatile costs when cleaner alternatives could serve ratepayers better. APS also earned an F in the group’s latest Dirty Truth Report, which evaluates utilities on continued coal use and planned gas capacity while crediting renewable additions. Separate research cited by the Sierra Club estimates fossil-fuel pollution is linked to roughly 8 million deaths globally each year.

Critics argue the move undermines APS’s stated goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter Director Sandy Bahr noted that APS holds the largest planned gas portfolio among Arizona utilities, making the coal extension appear contradictory to its climate messaging. “The utility hasn’t shown it’s serious about meeting it,” she said, calling for a just and timely energy transition.

Tó Nizhóní Ání Director Nicole Horseherder was more pointed, describing the decision to keep a 60-year-old plant running as disconnected from the reality facing Navajo Nation residents. She cited a summer of record heat waves and ongoing regional flooding as evidence of a worsening climate that plant operators seem unwilling to acknowledge. A public meeting on APS’s 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, which will chart the utility’s 15-year energy roadmap, is scheduled for October 14.