Arizona regulators schedule hearing on proposed Mohave County natural-gas power plant

By Brian Bateman

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality has scheduled an in-person public hearing for Aug. 6, 2026, on a proposed air-quality permit for Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Inc.’s Mohave Energy Park, a planned natural-gas-fired electric generating facility in Mohave County.

The hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Arizona time at the Mohave Valley Fire Department, 1451 Willow Drive, Mohave Valley, AZ 86440. It is the immediate public step identified in the state’s notice for the proposed Air Quality Control Permit.

ADEQ has not issued the permit in the available notice. The hearing is not a final approval or rejection of the project; it is a public hearing on the proposed permit for construction and operation of the facility.

What ADEQ is reviewing

The applicant is Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Inc., identified in the notice as AEPCO. The proposed facility is called the Mohave Energy Park and is located in Mohave County, Arizona.

The permit under review is described as a new Air Quality Control Permit. Its scope, as stated in the notice, is construction and operation of a natural-gas-fired electric generating facility. The available material does not establish that construction has started or that the facility is operating.

ADEQ’s public-notices page lists the AEPCO Mohave Energy Park air-quality permit notice with a July 8, 2026, date. The matter remains listed as an active public-notice item, placing the Aug. 6 hearing within an ongoing state permitting process.

Why the hearing matters

The proposed project brings both air-quality oversight and electricity infrastructure into the state review. The permit decision could affect local air emissions and the development of generating infrastructure in the area.

The hearing also gives nearby residents a formal opportunity to participate in the review of a major proposed generating facility. The approved notice does not describe the positions of organized supporters or opponents, and it does not provide an expected attendance figure.

That public-participation opportunity is tied to the proposed permit, not to a completed project. The available record does not say that the facility’s emissions would be harmful or compliant, and it does not establish the project’s ultimate effect on Mohave County or the wider region.

Details still unavailable

The notice does not state the plant’s proposed generating capacity. It also does not provide an emissions profile. Without those details, the available packet does not support conclusions about the facility’s size, specific pollutants or operational effects.

The packet also does not include a final permit decision or a later date for ADEQ action. No result from the hearing is available in the approved material because the event is scheduled for Aug. 6, 2026.

Those limits are important because the project remains a proposal. The source material supports reporting the applicant, facility type, location, permit subject and public-hearing date, but not claims that the plant has been approved, that construction has begun or that it will produce a particular amount of electricity.

Next step

The next known step is the in-person public hearing at 6 p.m. on Aug. 6 at the Mohave Valley Fire Department in Mohave Valley. Residents and other interested members of the public can use that scheduled proceeding to comment on the proposed air-quality permit.

After the hearing, the available notice does not identify a permit-decision deadline. Until ADEQ takes further action, the Mohave Energy Park remains a proposed natural-gas-fired generating facility under active state air-quality review.