A Navajo Nation company has ended its bid to buy a coal-fired power plant on the reservation and the mine that feeds it.
The decision Friday means the Navajo Generating Station and the Kayenta Mine will close this year, ending decades of operation in northeastern Arizona.
The bid by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company had been considered a long-shot since tribal leaders asked the company last year to consider the acquisition. Coal is falling out of favor across the country.
The company's negotiations with the power plant owners recently came to a halt over who ultimately would be responsible for cleanup.
Environmentalists have urged the Navajo Nation to ditch coal for renewable energy.
The power plant initially was built to move Colorado River water to Arizona's major metropolitan areas.
