Four Corners Generating Station

The Four Corners Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant located near Fruitland, New Mexico, United States, on property located within the Navajo Indian Reservation that is leased from the Navajo Nation.

The Four Corners Generating Station originally consisted of five units with a total rated generating capacity of about 2,040 megawatts. Units 1, 2, and 3 (permanently shut down in 2014 as part of a $182 million plan for Arizona Public Service Co. to meet environmental regulations) had a combined generating capacity of 560 megawatts while units 4 and 5 each have a generating capacity of 770 MW. Units 1, 2 and 3 opened in 1963-64 and Units 4 and 5 opened in 1969-70.

The Arizona Public Service Company (APS) owns 100% of Units 1, 2, and 3, while Units 4 and 5 are operated by APS but owned by five companies, with APS owning 63%,Public Service Company of New Mexico 13%, Salt River Project 10%, Tucson Electric Power 7%, and El Paso Electric 7%.

The station is cooled using water from Morgan Lake, which is man-made and is replenished by about 28 million gallons of water each day from the San Juan River. The plant burns sub-bituminous coal delivered from the nearby Navajo Coal Mine by the Navajo Mine Railroad.

The Four Corners Generating Station was constructed on property that was leased from the Navajo Nation in a renegotiated agreement that will expire in 2041. Unit 1 and Unit 2 were completed in 1963, Unit 3 was completed in 1964, Unit 4 was completed in 1969, and Unit 5 was completed in 1970.

Apparently the astronauts of the Mercury reported that they could see two human-constructed things from space: one was the Great Wall of China and the other was the "plume streaming from Four Corners Power Plant."

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