Arizona regulators have approved a pared-down proposal to expand the Salt River Project’s Coolidge natural gas power plant in Pinal County—following a court settlement with community opponents—which now reduces the number of new generation turbines to 12 from 16 and cuts the planned facility to 575 MW costing $775 million from an original 820-MW plan that was estimated to cost at least $830 million.
The revised expansion of the current 575-MW plant follows a settlement just reached between the Phoenix-area water and power utility and residents of Randolph, a historically minority community about 60 miles south that raised concerns about the more emissions from the enlarged facility. Their legal challenge last year, joined by environmental groups, prompted the Arizona Corporation Commission to reject the expansion plan, halting work.