Energy Department halts planned closure of Centralia coal plant

The Department of Energy issued an emergency order forcing the Centralia coal plant in Washington to remain open for another 90 days, halting a planned shutdown that had been agreed by local parties and the plant owner. The Centralia plant had been slated to close under a compromise codified in a 2011 law: TransAlta agreed to shut one generator in 2020 and the other in 2025, put $55 million into a transition fund and finance roughly $50,000 payments for departing workers.

One unit closed in 2020, and TransAlta announced plans in December to transition the plant to natural gas. A state law barring Washington utilities from buying coal-fired power took effect at the start of this year. The Trump administration’s order is one of several affecting five coal plants nationwide and has raised legal and logistical questions about who can make regional power decisions.

The state’s attorney general and environmental groups have asked the Department of Energy to reconsider. Critics involved in the 2011 negotiations said the move upended a deal that had balanced industry, labor, community and environmental interests: “We made a deal, and everyone got what they wanted, right?” said Robin Everett of the Sierra Club.

TransAlta must now decide how to comply, which may include restocking coal and persuading employees to stay, and there are questions about who could buy power given the state ban.

Key Topics

Politics, Centralia Coal Plant, Transalta, Washington State, Transition Fund