Randolph residents triumphant as commission rejects SRP expansion

PHOENIX — Opponents of the Salt River Project Coolidge Expansion Project walked away from the Arizona Corporation Commission chambers with a monumental victory on April 12. But it was not without its trials.

In a decision many from Randolph hoped for but few expected, the ACC voted 4-1 to reject the expansion of the Coolidge Generating Station.

By 10 a.m., Meeting Room One at the ACC building was full of residents who had made the long journey from Randolph and other surrounding areas to Phoenix in order to take a stand against the expansion of the SRP natural gas-operated electric power plant currently located near their small, historically Black community.

The plant expansion in question would more than double emissions, and concerns about the continued degradation of air quality within the town were what led both the residents and the Sierra Club to oppose this project proposal.