A steam line that ran near the plant's control room and cafeteria ruptured on June 9, 1985, fatally scalding six and injuring ten more.

The Mohave Generating Station was built on a 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) site in the Mojave Desert adjacent to the Colorado River in Laughlin, Clark County, Nevada.

The plant was owned by a utility consortium of operator Southern California Edison Co (56%), Salt River Project (20%), Nevada Power (14%) and LADWP (10%).

Approximately 160,000 cu yd (120,000 m3) of bottom ash and 60,000 cu yd (46,000 m3) of sludge were placed in an onsite landfill each year; the disposal site, named Ash Canyon, was approximately 360 acres (150 ha) in area.

The power station and its connected 500 kV transmission systems (one to California, the other to Nevada) were subjected to extensive simulations, which ultimately led to identification of the root cause of the failures.

What was not then known, but was later identified during the simulations, which were performed in the System Development Division of LADWP, was the series resistance of the ACSR transmission lines, when under near freezing conditions, combined with the "series compensation", which was designed to counteract the series impedance of the lines, could, under certain conditions of generation and load, and low ambient temperatures, place an effective negative impedance on the generators, thereby causing a mechanical response by the turbine-generators that resulted in their destruction.

At 3:25 pm on June 9, 1985, a 30-inch (760 mm) hot reheat line, carrying steam at 600 psi (4,100 kPa), burst open.

A 1,000 °F (538 °C) steam cloud blew down a door leading to the control room of the station, fatally scalding six workers: Michael Bowman, John Dolan, Ernest Hernandez, Terry Leroy, Danny Norman, and Howard Turner.

[6] A report on the accident was completed in May 1991, but was not released until Christmas Day because of Edison's objections that it would compromise civil suits.

[7] Although several factors contributed to the pipe's failure, the report said Edison's actions—or lack of actions—were "primary and critical factors in causing the accident": The report found no evidence that the accident was caused by a specific action on the day of the pipe failure.

In addition, the report argues that, because the accident was avoidable, the costs should be borne by Edison's shareholders, not its rate-paying customers.

[8] The plant was shut to comply with a consent agreement reached to settle a 1998 CAA lawsuit brought by several environmental groups.

Furthermore, the Hopi and Navajo signed an agreement preventing the use of water from the local aquifer to make up slurry.