The Western Electricity Coordinating Council's 2005 Ten-Year Coordinated Plan Summary identified the Arizona/New Mexico/Southern Nevada region in need of additional power generation to sustain growth. The plan estimates that summer loads in the Arizona, New Mexico and Southern Nevada will increase at a compounded growth rate of 3.2 percent. This will result in summer peak loads increasing from 26,972 MW in 2005 to 35,060 MW in 2014, an increase of 8,088 MW. The Toquop Energy Project will contribute 9% of the new generation required. The Project is a development by Sithe Global Power, LLC. The project consists of a 750MW coal fired power plant that uses Wyoming Powder River Basin coal.

The Toquop Energy project will have one 750-MW generating unit a dry cooling system, a rail line to transport coal to the plant, coal storage facilities, a water-supply system (including a well field and a water pipeline), waste management operation facilities, and a power transmission interconnection to an existing power transmission. The project area includes of 640 acres that was previously designated for a gas fired power plant. With the natural gas prices making electricity cost very high and natural gas prices being so volatile it is more advantageous to build a coal-fired plant on this site. The site is remote and without residential population and is located conveniently along a natural gas pipeline route and a power line route. Water will be supplied by the pipeline whose route is shown in yellow with water coming from a well field in the Tule Desert. Permanent tortoise fencing will be installed to protect the desert tortoise from entering the project site during operation.