The last trainload of coal rolled into the Navajo Generating Station near Page on Monday, marking the closure of the mine 78 miles away and starting a countdown for the plant's own darkening.
The electric companies that own the coal plant voted in 2017 to close it, citing lower prices from natural-gas plants.
The last load from the electric train means the current 265-person workforce at Peabody Energy's Kayenta Mine will be reduced to a "smaller crew" responsible for filling in the massive holes scraped by drag lines and returning the area to a landscape suitable for native plants and animals as well as livestock.
With about 42 days of fuel stockpiled on site, the power plant will remain open a bit longer...