When I first saw this late at night on Highway 98 in northern Arizona I felt a distinct Close Encounters vibe. However, as I got closer it finally revealed itself as . . . just an ordinary power generating station. When I drove past, I saw that it was, specifically, the Navajo Generating Station, a coal-fired plant built in the ’70s on land leased from the Navajo Nation. However, shale gas eventually made it uneconomic to operate, and last year it ceased operation. For now, though, the lights are still on.

January 27, 2020 — Coconino County, Arizona

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