Environmental group praises SRP for coal plant transition, asks for more renewables

An environmental group is celebrating the announcement that Salt River Project is transitioning its Coronado Generating Station from coal to gas but believes the utility can do more.

The Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, a nonprofit environmental organization that opposes coal and fossil fuel emissions, is asking SRP why the change isn’t to alternative fuels like solar or wind.

“We are glad to see SRP move up the retirement of the deadly Coronado coal plant. This is a decision that will save lives, protect the air we breathe, and reduce harmful, climate-warming emissions,” said Ylenia Aguilar, senior organizer for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Arizona. “But there is still more the utility can do to embrace a cleaner, healthier future for Arizonans.”

SRP, the state’s second largest power provider, has analyzed future costs and emissions from the Coronado plant and found that by eliminating coal, the plant will emit one-tenth of the carbon from the coal plant, officials said in an email.

They are also exploring alternatives that will bridge the gap between now and the mid-2040s, when they say alternative methods like nuclear power are mature and ready to be used.

They did not comment on the use of solar or wind energy. SRP has pledged to be carbon neutral in its emissions by 2050.

The Valley is home to more than 5 million people and is one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the country. The American Lung Association ranks the area 20^th out of 208 for high levels of particle pollution like PM 2.5, PM 10 and others.

“Converting the plant to gas could potentially lock our communities into decades of more pollution, higher utility costs, and climate catastrophe,” Aguilar said in a press release.