PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona's largest electricity utility plans to test whether a coal-fired plant can instead be fueled by wood chips from pine trees, a conversion that could keep part of the plant open and save jobs of some its workers.
The Arizona Republic reports forest thinning that would produce the biomass for Arizona Public Service Co.'s Cholla Power Plant near Holbrook also would reduce the threat of destructive wildfires.
One of the plant's four units is already closed, and Arizona Public Service Co. otherwise plans to shut down both of its remaining units in 2025. That's when utility PacifiCorp also plans to close the one unit it owns.
About 200 people work at the Cholla Power Plant.
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Information from: The Arizona Republic, http://www.azcentral.com
