The U.S. Department of Energy announced early Wednesday morning an emergency order to keep TransAlta’s Centralia-based, coal-fired power plant operational through March of next year.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued the emergency order on Tuesday evening, Dec. 16, to keep the Centralia TransAlta power plant operating through the winter.
In a statement, the agency said that the secretary issued the order to maintain “affordable, reliable and secure electricity” this winter for residents of the northwestern states.
The order specifically directs TransAlta to keep its last coal-fired generation unit in Centralia, often referred to as Unit 2, online and ready to operate.
The order comes exactly two weeks before the company was set to take the facility's last coal-fired unit offline in accordance with 2011 Washington state legislation that mandates the shutdown.
According to the statement, the federal government believes keeping the unit online will minimize chances of blackouts in extreme weather conditions in the coming months.
“The reliable supply of power from the Centralia coal plant is essential for grid stability in the Northwest,” the Department of Energy’s statement reads. “The order prioritizes minimizing the risk and costs of blackouts.”
In the announcement, the agency also cites a study by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) that states the Northwest region of the nation is at an increased risk of outages during extreme weather events.
The study claims the shutdown of facilities such as the TransAlta site are increasing outage risks. In the statement, the department and Wright noted specifically that they are reversing course on Biden administration policies.
“The last administration’s energy subtraction policies had the United States on track to experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years — thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” Wright said in the announcement. “The Trump administration will continue taking action to keep America’s coal plants running so we can stop the price spikes and ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources.”
The shutdown of the TransAlta plant in Centralia has been mandated by state legislation since 2011.
In response to the order, the Sierra Club, America's self-titled “most influential grassroots environmental organization,” issued a statement Wednesday morning claiming the emergency order from the U.S. Department of Energy would “forcibly and illegally extend operations” at the Centralia TransAlta site.
The Sierra Club in its statement claimed that its own studies of the cost of keeping coal plants operational estimate it will cost roughly $65 million a year to keep the Centralia plant online. The Sierra Club is already fighting two other emergency orders from the U.S. Department of Energy that have ordered the continued operation of coal-fired power plants in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Sierra Club Washington State Director Ben Avery in a statement said there was no power emergency severe enough to justify keeping the plant online. Avery added that the Sierra Club believes keeping the plant online will continue polluting the air, likely at a higher cost to ratepayers.
In the same announcement, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Director Laurie Williams linked the orders to affordability issues, accusing the federal government and President Trump of propping up the U.S. coal industry.
“In the midst of an affordability crisis, Donald Trump is forcing Americans to pay millions more dollars on utility bills — all to bolster the dying coal industry,” Williams said. “Americans should be able to spend their hard-earned dollars on rent, groceries, school supplies and other essentials, not to keep a dirty, expensive, unnecessary coal plant online.”
The Centralia-based coal-fired power plant operated by TransAlta was set to retire the second and last of its coal-fired generators at the Centralia location by the end of the month. The plant retired the first of its two generators — known as Unit 1 — in 2020 as part of the same state policy.
Earlier this month, TransAlta announced that the plant would begin a conversion of its Unit 2 generator to begin burning natural gas. The permitting and conversion process was expected to begin in early 2026, begin operation in 2028 and provide power at least through 2044 thanks to a long-term purchase agreement with Puget Sound Energy.
It's now unclear what the next steps for the Centralia-based power plant will be and how the emergency order may change TransAlta's plans for operation and conversion in the near future. TransAlta officials said in the wake of the announcement that it was still reviewing the federal order and would still prioritize natural gas conversion.
“TransAlta is currently evaluating the Order and will work with the state and federal governments in relation thereto,” TransAlta’s Senior Advisor for U.S. Stakeholder Relations and Communications Lori Schmitt said in an email. “The coal-to-gas conversion project, announced on December 9, 2025, remains a priority for TransAlta.”
For the state and climate organizations, however, it seems the order will likely trigger a legal battle. Previous reporting by The Seattle Times showed both Washington state Gov. Bob Ferguson and the NW Energy Coalition gearing up for a legal battle.
Ferguson said his office was coordinating with the state attorney general's office and Department of Ecology to weigh the state's options. A representative for the NW Energy Coalition said the group planned to sue the federal government over the emergency order.
