DOE Orders 90-Day Extension for Washington's Last Coal Plant

The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered the operator of Washington's last remaining coal-fired power plant to keep it running for at least 90 more days, delaying a long-planned transition to natural gas amid claims of an electricity shortage in the Pacific Northwest. The directive, issued Tuesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright, targets the Centralia Generating Station in southwest Washington, which had been scheduled to end coal operations by December 31, 2025.

TransAlta Corp., the Calgary-based company that owns the facility, confirmed it is reviewing the federal order and plans to collaborate with state and federal authorities. The plant's single remaining coal unit, Centralia Unit 2, was set to cease burning coal as part of a 15-year decommissioning process mandated by Washington state law since 2011. The conversion to natural gas, expected to be completed by late 2028 at a cost of $600 million, would have reduced the plant's emissions intensity by half. TransAlta recently signed a long-term agreement to supply 700 megawatts of gas-fired electricity to Puget Sound Energy through 2044.

The Energy Department justified the order by declaring an emergency in the region,...