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Show CHAPTER III 83 power and energy from Federal powerplants in the Colorado River system so as to produce the greatest practicable amount of power and energy that can be sold at firm power and energy rates. The agreements shall provide, among other things, that- "(1) the United States shall pay not more than that portion of the total construction cost, exclusive of interest during construction, of the powerplants, and of any switchyards and transmission facilities serving the United States, as is represented by the ratios of the respective capacities to be provided for the United States therein to the total capacities of such facilities. The Secretary shall make the Federal portion of such costs available to the non-Federal interests during the construction period, including the period of preparation of designs and specifications, in such installments as will facilitate a timely construction schedule, but no funds other than for preconstruction activities shall be made available by the Secretary until he determines that adequate contractual arrangements have been entered into between all the affected parties covering land, water, fuel supplies, power (its availability and use), rights-of-way, transmission facilities and all other necessary matters for the thermal generating powerplants; "(2) annual operation and maintenance costs shall be apportioned between the United States and the non-Federal interests on an equitable basis taking into account the ratios determined in accordance with the foregoing clause (1): Provided, however, That the United States shall share on the foregoing basis in the depreciation component of such costs only to the extent of provision for depreciation on replacements financed by the non-Federal interests; "(3) the United States shall be given appropriate credit for any interests in Federal lands administered by the Department of the Interior that are made available for the powerplants and appurtenances; "(4) costs to be borne by the United States under clauses (1) and (2) shall not include (a) interest and interest during construction, (b) financing charges, (c) franchise fees, and (d) such other costs as shall be specified in the agreement. "(c) No later than one year from the effective date of this Act, the Secretary shall submit his recommended plan to the Congress. Except as authorized by subsection (b) of this section, such plan shall not become effective until approved by the Congress. "(d) If any thermal generating plant referred to in subsection (b) of this section is located in Arizona, and if it is served by water diverted from the drainage area of the Colorado River system above Lee Ferry, other provisions of existing law to the contract notwithstanding, such consumptive use of water shall be a part of the fifty thousand acre-feet per annum apportioned to the State of Arizona by article HI (a) of the Upper Colorado River Basin Company (63 Stat. 31)." In June 1968, the Secretary of the Interior met with representatives of various utilities which had expressed an interest in additional electric generating capacity in the Southwest (see elaboration herein on the negotiations leading up to the execution of Contracts for the Interim Sale of United States Entitlement of Navajo Project). On September 30, 1969, the Secretary filed with Congress a report required by the Colorado River Basin Project Act, advising Congress of his findings that participation in the Navajo Project represented the most suitable alternative for supplying the power requirements of CAP. The site of the Navajo Generating Station near Page, Arizona, was selected for the following reasons: (1) it was approximately 80 miles from a reliable coal supply on the Black Mesa on the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations; (2) Cooling water was available from nearby Lake Powell; (3) It was near the town of Page, Arizona, and its support facilities; and (4) It was close to load centers in Arizona, Nevada, and southern California to minimize transmission costs. E.2 Physical Features The Navajo Project consists of: the 2,310 MW Navajo Generating Station whose construction started in April 1970 on land leased from the Navajo Tribe near Page, Arizona. Its major feature (three units - each 750,000 kW (nameplate rating) coal fired steam electric generating units, were completed May 1974, 1975, and 1976, respectively); the Black Mesa and Lake Powell Railroad, constructed by the Project, which delivered coal mined by Peabody Coal Company from Reservation lands leased from the Navajo and Hopi |
