Department of Interior Grant for Clean Energy Strategic Plan Assistance to Navajo Nation

Technical assistance is provided to the Navajo Nation (Recipient) to expedite the completion of the Clean Energy Strategic Plan in cooperation with the Department of Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). A Joint Federal Agency Working Group (JFAWG), formulated among the DOI, Department of Energy (DOE), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), released a joint statement regarding Navajo Generation Station (NGS) on January 4, 2013. The goals set forth in the joint statement are: “The DOI, DOE, and EPA will work together to support Arizona and tribal stakeholders’ interests in aligning energy infrastructure investments made by the Federal and private owners of the NGS with long term goals of producing clean, affordable and reliable power, affordable and sustainable water supplies, and sustainable economic development, while minimizing negative impacts on those who currently obtain significant benefits from NGS, including tribal nations.”

In February 2017, the NGS owners and participant formally decided not to continue operations beyond 2019 and outlined operations scenarios in accordance with the 1969 NGS lease. The Recipient and Salt River Project (SRP) initiated negotiations of a lease and associated documents to ensure that operations will continue through December 2019. That lease is named the Extension Lease. In addition, the DOI initiated a stakeholder process to evaluate various operations scenarios and economic impacts. As part of the Extension Lease, negotiated between SRP and the Recipient negotiated two key provisions related to this cooperative agreement: (1) access to NGS transmission lines and 500MW of rights to access the energy market, and (2) the Recipient ownership of the NGS water pumping station on Lake Powell for regional water development.