Witnesses and lawmakers called for action Thursday to head off the 2019 closure of the Navajo Generating Station, a move that could mean the loss of thousands of jobs at the plant and the coal mine that fuels it.

Renewable energy is an essential part of the solution for our Navajo economy and jobs after coal. I hope more will make the drive to the Phoenix with me next time we need to speak up at the ACC, including our Navajo elected officials.

Arizona Corporation Commissioner Andy Tobin released a plan January 30 that calls for increases in clean energy, energy storage and biomass.

Navajo leaders expressed hope October 2 that the Navajo Generating Station will be able to continue operations past 2019, after Peabody Energy said it had come up with a list of potential investors in the plant.

The Navajo Nation Council has approved a lease extension to allow a coal-fired power plant in northeastern Arizona to continue operating through December 2019.

Coal supplier Peabody Energy is pressing the case before the Arizona Corporation Commission to save the Navajo Generating Station. Peabody Energy, the largest private-sector coal producer in the world, owns the Kayenta Mine, which operates solely to fuel the Navajo power plant.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye has said a proposed deal has been reached to keep an electricity-generating reservation coal plant open until 2020.

The state of Arizona – much like the rest of the nation – is at an energy crossroads. As demand for electricity grows, residents and policymakers are wrestling with questions that will define the future of the state’s energy grid, and will determine Arizona’s ability to keep its lights on and its economy vibrant in the years to come.

The decision to close the Navajo Generating Station, a coal-powered plant near Page, Arizona has become the first real test of Trump’s promise to save coal jobs.

Despite pledges to look for alternatives, closing the Navajo Generating Station in Page could devastate the local economy, where hundreds of jobs rely on the plant and affiliated coal mine and where experts see few, if any, workable solutions.