Three months after Arizona regulators approved utility Salt River Project’s plan to expand a natural gas power plant in Pinal County, the Sierra Club is challenging that decision in court.
A lawsuit filed Sept. 1 by the environmental organization in Maricopa County Superior Court asserts the Arizona Corporation Commission erred in approving the gas-fired expansion at the Coolidge Generating Station, which is situated adjacent to the historically Black community of Randolph. The expansion project would lock in decades of new gas use with increased air pollution and adverse health impacts, the lawsuit contends.
The commission voted 4-1 in June to approve SRP’s revised and downsized Coolidge plant expansion, reversing a prior decision to deny a permit. The commission approved the expansion despite unanswered questions about the need for the project and the environmental impacts, according to the lawsuit. After that decision in June, the Sierra Club requested a new hearing that was not acted on by the commission.
The lawsuit contends approving the project was unlawful and unreasonable because the commission didn’t support its decision with substantial evidence about the need for the expansion or its impact, didn’t conduct an evidentiary hearing and violated due process.
The lawsuit asks the Superior Court to invalidate the June decision. Earlier, in January 2023, the Superior Court affirmed the commission’s original decision to deny the expansion.
SRP issued a statement indicating it was aware of the lawsuit and views the Sierra Club arguments as being without merit and should be rejected.
The commissioners, in explaining their votes, called out the need for the Coolidge expansion "to assist in meeting customers’ electric demand and enhancing reliability of the grid," SRP said. "They also noted the work between SRP and the Randolph parties in entering a settlement agreement, which addressed the commission’s concern for the Randolph community."
Compromise had been reached
The commission ultimately agreed to the expansion after SRP reached an agreement with Randolph residents, pledging to increase its health and financial commitments and make infrastructure improvements including a new block wall around part of the power plant, new landscaping and additional road paving to reduce dust.
The settlement calls for SRP to spend $23.8 million for the community, or $12.3 million more than it had offered earlier. Incentives include up to $4 million in scholarships for Randolph residents and their descendants, $2 million to build a community center, $200,000 to operate it and up to $1.5 million to rehabilitate as many as 60 homes.