<p>Recent interest in the future of the Navajo Generating Station near Page is part of a larger dialogue about the future of coal-fired power plants everywhere, and the signs are that we are, after more than a centurylong marriage, falling out of love with coal.</p><p>Regionally, California's Senate Bill 1368 is pushing local utilities to divest themselves of coal, including their shares of NGS. Nevada is following suit with Senate Bill 123, which clears the way to sell its share of NGS and to close the Reid Gardner plant near Moapa, Nev.</p><p>To make up the difference, both states plan to rely on efficiency, renewables and natural gas. In fact, they are working together on this approach. Los Angeles, for example, will be purchasing 250 megawatts of solar power from the Moapa Band of Paiutes, one of the groups that worked to retire Reid Gardner. To put that into concrete terms, every hour the solar plant runs at full capacity, it will produce 20 times more electricity than my Tempe house uses in a year.</p><p>Coal is also losing momentum nationally. It dropped from 50 percent in 2005 to 35 percent in 2012, driven by cheap natural gas. Fifty-two gigawatts (about 16 percent of the existing coal fleet) has been announced for retirement by 2025.</p><p><a href="http://www.azcentral.com/opinions/articles/20130607coal-navajo-generating-station-viewpoints.html">Keep reading...</a></p>