This week, Arizonans have a chance to hear the future of the Navajo Generating Station. 

The coal-fired power plant on the Reservation south of Page is slated to close in 2019.

Representatives from the Department of the Interior are hosting “listening sessions” this week.  The first was held Monday in Phoenix at the Heard Museum.

The Arizona Corporation Commission met with the Interior last month to discuss extending the lease term for stakeholders, SRP, APS, Tucson Electric and Nevada Energy. 

Ideas primarily centered on converting the plant to alternative power such as natural gas or solar power, but not coal.

The plant and nearby coal mine employ up to 1,900 people from the reservation and is the area’s largest employer.

The remaining sessions are Wednesday 4-7 p.m. in Page, and Friday 9 a.m.-noon in Window Rock.