After the Salt River Project announced it would be closing the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) by the end of 2019, efforts to keep the plant open and running were immediately undertaken by community members, the Navajo and Hopi Nations, and the supplying mine owner Peabody Energy. With no buyers willing to take on the project, the NGS and the supplying Kayenta Mine will be closing in December 2019. This report focuses on the effects of large coal-fired plant closure on the surrounding community in three comparative cases in an effort to understand what the Coconino County and the Navajo and Hopi Nations might be headed towards in the coming years. By examining economic factors such as poverty and unemployment, communities may be better prepared by knowing what to expect. Then, specific particularities the Navajo and Hopi Nations face in regards to remediation and redevelopment of the NGS area are analyzed and compared to six other cases of coal plants closed and remediated in the past. To continue facilitating a better understanding of a just transition for the communities dependent on the NGS and Kayenta mine for jobs, future studies could focus on remediation options and renewable energy (RE) capacity.
Keywords: coal plant closure, remediation, Navajo Generating Station

The sacred San Francisco Peaks in northern Arizona have been at the center of a series of land development controversies since the 1800s. Most recently, a controversy arose over a proposal by the ski area on the Peaks to use 100% reclaimed water to make artificial snow. The current state of the San Francisco Peaks controversy would benefit from a decision-making process that holds sustainability policy at its core. The first step towards a new sustainability-focused deliberative process regarding a complex issue like the San Francisco Peaks controversy requires understanding the issue's origins and the perspectives of the people involved in the issue. My thesis provides an historical analysis of the controversy and examines some of the laws and participatory mechanisms that have shaped the decision-making procedures and power structures from the 19th century to the early 21st century.