Western Railroad Discussion > Four Corners shut down?????

As a follow-up to previous post on coal plants shutting down: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3040869

This morning I listened to a Los Angeles Dept of Water and Power talk about the divesture from coal generated power.
In it he mentioned very recent closure of 4 corners.
Anybody got any verification/info on this?
BM&LP fate is?????

One other tid bit is that 50% of our natural gas now comes from wells that use fracking as a means of gas extraction. Interesting.

Only the three oldest of a total of five generating units were scheduled to be shut down.

But, he said, more needs to be done to cure society’s addiction to fossil fuels.

This is the root of the "concern" over burning coal. There is quite a bit of info on the internet about the Four Corners power plant. The three older plants will be closed by 2014 and the two newest plants will be upgraded over several years. 17% of the local population have some lung disorder and the cleaner air will help this and it will go a long way to clean the brown haze from the air that drifts into the national parks.
The next step will be to process the EIS for expanding the coal mine. When the thing opened up in the late 50's things might have been a tad sloppy compared to todays mining permits.
Roger B

Probably 70% of the local population smokes, possibly the plant emissions cause
further irritation but it's doubtful it's the primary cause.

BobP Wrote:
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>
> In it he mentioned very recent closure of 4
> corners.
> Anybody got any verification/info on this?
> BM&LP fate is?????
>

Black Mesa & Lake Powell transports coal to the Navajo Generating Station near Page, a different facility.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has a 21% stake in the Navajo Generating Station but not Four Corners.

http://www.srpnet.com/about/stations/navajo.aspx

DWP announcement-

http://www.ladwpnews.com/go/doc/1475/1727379/LADWP-Takes-Historic-Action-Toward-Clean-Energy-Future-for-Los-Angeles

Southern California Edison is in the process of selling their 48% interest in Four Corners to Arizona Public Service.

http://www.pnm.com/systems/4c.htm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/19/utilities-aps-fourcorners-coal-idUSL2E8FJDSH20120419


daniel

I believe this is being driven by either a State of California mandate or at minimum some serious saber-rattling by the State to get power companies to divest themselves of coal-fired sources of electricity.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-19/los-angeles-halts-using-electricity-from-coal-plants.html

rehunn Wrote:
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> Probably 70% of the local population smokes,
> possibly the plant emissions cause
> further irritation but it's doubtful it's the
> primary cause.

70% is probably low up in that area. I agree with this.

No visit to Mesa Verde National Park is complete without a few Park references to the evil Four Corners power plant, southwest of the Park by 30-40 miles.

Tom Y

icancmp193 Wrote:
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> No visit to Mesa Verde National Park is complete
> without a few Park references to the evil Four
> Corners power plant, southwest of the Park by
> 30-40 miles.
>
> Tom Y

Some newer residents of nearby Durango CO also complain about the noise and soot from those obsolete teakettles that rattle through town and bring "outsiders". They get set straight pretty quickly, however.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> icancmp193 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > No visit to Mesa Verde National Park is
> complete
> > without a few Park references to the evil Four
> > Corners power plant, southwest of the Park by
> > 30-40 miles.
> >
> > Tom Y
>
> Some newer residents of nearby Durango CO also
> complain about the noise and soot from those
> obsolete teakettles that rattle through town and
> bring "outsiders". They get set straight pretty
> quickly, however.

The newcomers have forced the Durango and Silverton to take action to reduce smoke and soot. The hot engines in the roundhouse use cleaner-burning wood pellets to keep steam up and the D&S has installed scrubbers to filter the stack exhaust.

http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/headline.asp?id=31608

Of course, part of the reason is the building in recent years of nearby condos occupied by part-time or permanent residents from California. Californicate is one word used by long time residents to refer to the impact of the newcomers.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> Of course, part of the reason is the building in
> recent years of nearby condos occupied by
> part-time or permanent residents from California.

Funny, when I first moved to California, many people had a bumper sticker that read: "Welcome to California, Now Go Home". Seems the surrounding states now have ample reason to make the reverse statement "Welcome, Now Go Home to California".

>"Welcome to California, Now Go Home"

Which makes you a relatively recent arrival. One branch of my father's family came here prior to statehood.