Phoenix, Ariz. - Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kevin Thompson issued the following statement today following APS' announcement to convert closed Cholla Coal Power Plant to natural gas: 

"The estimated $1.9 billion price tag needed to restart Cholla as a coal plant was economically infeasible and an unfair burden to ratepayers.  

"Converting Cholla and bringing it back online as a dispatchable generating site is an important step to affordably enhance long term grid reliability. Earlier this year the Commission approved the conversions of both Springerville and Coronado Generating Stations from coal to natural gas. 

"The existing infrastructure at plants like Cholla, Springerville, and Coronado have always made these sites ideal for conversion or repurposing, whether that be advanced nuclear technology or in this case natural gas. 

"To protect ratepayers, I offered an amendment in 2024 while considering APS’ latest Integrated Resource Plan to address the generation gap. The amendment required APS to replace any future lost generation at the Four Corners coal plant to be replaced with similar reliable and dispatchable generation.  

"More recently, Chair Myers joined me in encouraging APS to consider the priorities of this Commission with decisions like Coronado and Springerville as they contemplated the future of Cholla. We encouraged the company to hold true to their public commitments to prioritize reliability and affordability amidst our unprecedented period of rapid growth and increased demand.  

"There's still a lot of work to do, and I will evaluate future filings with an open mind with a focus on reliability and affordability. But it's important to remember it wasn't that long ago that a Republican-controlled Commission essentially implemented a natural-gas moratorium. I'm proud of this Commission's commitment to put politics aside and do what's right for the reliability of our grid and for ratepayers."