Two Arizona coal plants are getting a new lease on life as natural gas facilities.
Federal mandates were going to force the Springerville and Coronado plants into retirement within six years. The utilities looked at the options. Spend a fortune on coal retrofits that ratepayers would fund. Or convert to gas, cut emissions dramatically, and keep the lights on. They chose gas.
Here are some numbers:
- Springerville Units 1 & 2: 700-800 MW of baseload capacity. $450M+ for coal retrofits to meet EPA guidelines. Just $170M for gas conversion.
- Coronado: 10% of SRP’s peak demand. $1.1B for gas conversion and operation through 2045. That’s $300M cheaper than building completely new gas.
The conversion preserves jobs, maintains tax revenue, and keeps reliable generation online. Coronado supplies 10% of SRP’s peak demand. That’s “vital baseload” in the Commission’s own words. You don’t walk away from that without a plan. And the plan is gas.
