
SAN FRANCISCO (NET Radio) - Editor’s Note: This Signature Story was reported by QUEST Northern California and is the second in a four-part series, “Coal at the Crossroads” exploring coal in the U.S. This series is produced in collaboration with QUEST Northern California (KQED San Francisco) and its partner public broadcasting stations. For more QUEST Nebraska stories visit netnebraska.org/quest.
Massive coal-fired power plants aren't something you'll find within California's borders. To find the source of the state's coal power, you have to go to places like northern New Mexico, where the San Juan Generating Station is located.
"We currently have unit four offline, but units one, two and three are operating at full load," said Pat Themig, Vice President of Generation for PNM, the New Mexico utility that runs the plant.
"If you see the line where the stack is, everything going behind that is scrubber," he said, pointing past a towering smokestack.
Those scrubbers remove pollutants from the air emissions. But PNM has struggled to meet air quality standards and last month, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered the plant to install new pollution control equipment. Those costs are generally passed on to the power plant owners, which, in this case, are utilities in Arizona, New Mexico and California. The San Juan Generating Station supplies power to several California cities and the Southern California Public Power Authority.