{"id":38053,"date":"2022-10-03T02:20:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T08:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-shift-away-from-coal-hits-tribal-community-in-new-mexico\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:41:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:41:56","slug":"u-s-shift-away-from-coal-hits-tribal-community-in-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/u-s-shift-away-from-coal-hits-tribal-community-in-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. shift away from coal hits tribal community in New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This
This Sept. 20 image shows the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico. The closure of the power plant and the adjacent mine is resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue for surrounding communities. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

KIRTLAND, N.M. \u2014 The clamor of second graders breaking away from lessons to form lunch lines has gotten quieter in a rural New Mexico community, where families losing coal jobs have been forced to pack up and leave in search of work.<\/p>\n

At Judy Nelson Elementary, 1 in 4 students have left in an exodus spurred by decisions made five years ago<\/a> to shutter a coal-fired power plant and mine that sit just up the road from the school in a largely Navajo community. The plant and mine had provided electricity to millions of people across the southwestern U.S. for nearly a half-century.<\/p>\n

The San Juan Generating Station burned its last bit of coal Thursday. The remaining workers will spend the coming weeks draining water from the plant, removing chemicals and preparing to tear down what has long been fixture on the high-desert horizon.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of the latest wave of coal-burning units to be retired as New Mexico and other states try to fight climate change by requiring more carbon-free sources of electricity. President Joe Biden also has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.<\/p>\n

Just weeks ago, Hawaii\u2019s last coal-fired power plant<\/a> closed after 30 years, and more retirements are scheduled<\/a> around the U.S. over the next decade.<\/p>\n

\"This
This Sept. 21 image shows a second-grade student filling out a worksheet at Judy Nelson Elementary School in Kirtland, New Mexico. The closure of the nearby San Juan Generation Station and the adjacent mine is resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and tax revenue for a local school district that serves primarily Native American students. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This
This Sept. 20 image shows Albert Gonzales monitoring pollution control systems during the final week of operations at the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico. Gonzales, 70, worked 40 years for Public Service Co. of New Mexico, the utility that ran the coal-fired power plant. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A weathered billboard that has been used to protest the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, N.M., is seen Sept. 21. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This
This Sept. 20 image shows workers at the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico, using a lock box system before checking out tools. )AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This
This Sept. 20 image shows a sign in Navajo on the fence surrounding the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Transmission
Transmission lines leading from the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, N.M., are seen Sept. 21. The power plant burned its last bit of coal before the end of September. Public Service Co. of New Mexico executives told state regulators during a recent meeting that they are still searching for options to replace some of the lost capacity for the 2023 peak season. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A work truck leaves the San Juan Generating Station near Waterflow, New Mexico, on Sept. 20. The coal-fired power plant's single operating unit burned the last bit of coal before the end of September. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Teacher
Teacher Arleen Franklin and her second-grade class prepare to line up for lunch at Judy Nelson Elementary School, Sept. 21 in Kirtland, N.M. Franklin and other teachers say the closure of the nearby San Juan Generating Station and an adjacent mine already has resulted in the school losing students as some families have been forced to move away in search for new employment. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"This
This Sept. 21 image shows a second-grade student working on a math lesson at Judy Nelson Elementary School in Kirtland, New Mexico. The closure of the nearby San Juan Generation Station and the adjacent mine is resulting in the loss of hundreds of jobs and tax revenue for the Central Consolidated School District, which serves primarily Native American students. (AP Photo\/Susan Montoya Bryan)<\/span>Susan Montoya Bryan<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Realities of shuttering the San Juan plant are setting in for surrounding communities, including the Navajo Nation, where poverty and joblessness already are exponentially higher than national averages. Hundreds of jobs are evaporating along with tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue used to fund schools and a community college.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the Native American families have multi-generations living in the home so it doesn\u2019t just affect the husband and wife. It affects their children and their grandchildren,\u201d said Arleen Franklin, who teaches second grade at Judy Nelson. Her husband purchases equipment for a coal mine that feeds another power plant scheduled to close in 2031.<\/p>\n

Denise Pierro, a reading teacher at Judy Nelson, said it\u2019s stressful for parents to see a steady income erased. Pierro\u2019s husband, who served as the general manager of the mine for the San Juan plant, is among those forced into early retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve taken the rug out from underneath our feet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Area power plants, mines and associated businesses represent 80% of property tax revenues that fund the Central Consolidated School District<\/a>, which spans an area the size of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. Almost 93% of the students are Navajo.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rural and remote. Some students ride a school bus for three hours round trip, arriving home well after sunset. Internet service is spotty or nonexistent, and many homes don\u2019t have electricity or indoor plumbing. The poverty rate within the district is four times the national level. The median annual household income is about $20,000, and the unemployment rate hovers around 70%.<\/p>\n

New Mexico\u2019s Democratic leaders have celebrated the plant\u2019s closure while touting a landmark 2019 law that pushes for a renewable energy economy. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is running for reelection, has said the law represented a promise to future generations for a cleaner environment and new job opportunities.<\/p>\n

Environmentalists have said the closure will reduce air and water pollution in a region that some have described as an industrial sacrifice zone. They argue that power plant emissions and methane from the oilfields have caused health problems for residents.<\/p>\n

Joe Ramone, a 69-year-old pipe welder who worked at San Juan, lives in a Navajo community not far from the Four Corners plant. When the wind blows just right, he said his community is hit with ash and coal dust.<\/p>\n

Still, he said his priority is making sure Navajos have work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to see anybody unemployed and I am in no way in favor of these companies being shut down. But there\u2019s room for improvement,\u201d he said, suggesting more investments could have been made.<\/p>\n

The loss of the San Juan plant and the mine ripple through every facet of life, from fewer lunch orders at Kirtland\u2019s caf\u00e9 to a dwindling ash supply for concrete manufacturers. Meanwhile, prices have skyrocketed for everything from the Navajo staple of mutton to the woven baskets and other materials needed for healing ceremonies.<\/p>\n

Public Service Co. of New Mexico, which runs the plant, is providing $11 million in severance packages to help about 200 displaced workers. About 240 mine workers are getting severance payments worth $9 million. Another $3 million went to job training.<\/p>\n

A state fund established by the energy law also includes $12 million for affected workers.<\/p>\n

Solar and battery storage projects are meant to eventually replace the capacity lost with San Juan\u2019s shutdown and provide jobs during construction. But some of those projects have been delayed due to supply chain problems, and others are on hold indefinitely amid historic inflation and other economic constraints.<\/p>\n

Fresh off a night shift as an electrician at the mine for the neighboring Four Corners Power Plant, Christine Aspaas, a Central Consolidated School Board member, said even if those \u201cgreen\u201d jobs existed now, they would be temporary. And to make up for lost property tax revenue, she said, some families will have to pay up to seven times more.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been heartbreaking for so many Navajos to consider leaving home, Aspaas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what others don\u2019t understand,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s culture, there\u2019s traditions, and so it\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharon Clahchischilliage, once a teacher and a former New Mexico lawmaker, said people in her Navajo community near Shiprock are angry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of them told me, \u2018I don\u2019t know who to be angry at for us having to do this. We don\u2019t have a family anymore,'\u201d she said, referring to bonds broken as Navajos search for jobs elsewhere.<\/p>\n

In the final days, the plant\u2019s spinning turbine sent vibrations through layers of concrete and passing work boots. Heat emanated from the boilers below.<\/p>\n

In the dim control room, workers monitored screens displaying temperatures, pressure, turbine speeds and pollution control systems. Allen Palmer, 70, spent over half his life working his way up the ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to see it close,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Workers knew for years that the plant would be shuttered. It became more real as coal piles shrank each day \u2014 until there was nothing left. As the finish line approached, the company served workers green chile cheeseburgers as a morale booster alongside a big projection screen that read: \u201cThank you to all employees at San Juan for your years of dedicated service!\u201d<\/p>\n

The last few dozen employees will be laid off over the coming weeks. Some were ready to retire; in June, there were voluntary layoffs when the first of the last two generating units closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s lots of us who have worked 20-plus years and we all know each other and it\u2019s our family,\u201d said plant director Rodney Warner, who will oversee the decommissioning. \u201cIt\u2019s who we are.\u201d<\/p>\n

December would have marked 10 years at the plant for Steven Sorrow, 32. He and his coworkers know there\u2019s a good chance they will have to uproot and possibly enter other fields. Some will head to Wyoming, Colorado or Utah, where there are other plants and mines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an adjustment for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve tried to prepare over the five years when they told us what we had left. Hopefully I\u2019ve prepared well enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aspaas said officials need to find ways to keep the workforce in New Mexico. She said the foundation of economic development is education but without economic development, education suffers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis whole transition, everything that\u2019s happening, the closures, that\u2019s what is threatening our ability to keep funding education,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you go down to what it impacts, it is the education of our people, of the Navajo people, our students.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Realities of closing San Juan plant and mine setting in for surrounding communities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38054,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1424,490,1098,221,28,138,445],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coal","tag-electricity-production-and-distribution","tag-energy","tag-gas-and-oil","tag-headlines","tag-new-mexico","tag-newsletter-lead"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38053"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38053\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83894,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38053\/revisions\/83894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38053"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}