‘They keep coming back’: a Black town in Arizona battles power expansion plans again

Residents in industry-choked Randolph renew efforts to block the power company’s plans near their fragile town

A handful of weary residents gathered at the windowless Randolph church to mull over the latest bid by an electric utility to expand its power station – a polluting gas-fired plant next door to the community that the state regulator has blocked on environmental and health grounds.

Randolph is a historic Black community in central Arizona flanked by railroads and heavy hazardous industries, a small dusty place where residents are exposed to some of the worst air quality in the state while lacking basic amenities like fire hydrants, trash collection and healthcare.