DOE orders Washington coal unit to stay available through December
The Department of Energy has ordered TransAlta Centralia Generation LLC to keep Centralia Generating Station Unit 2 in Washington available for operation through Dec. 11, extending the federal government’s use of emergency authority to preserve aging power generation.
Order No. 202-26-44 was issued Sept. 11 under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act and took effect Sept. 13. It directs TransAlta to take measures needed to make the 729.9-megawatt coal-fired unit available when directed by Gridforce Energy Management, the plant’s balancing authority, or the Southwest Power Pool Western Reliability Coordinator.
The order does not require the plant to run continuously. It requires the unit to remain available for dispatch during the covered period and limits operations to the times and conditions established in the order.
Why DOE extended the order
DOE said an emergency exists in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council’s Northwest assessment area because of increased demand, shortages of electric energy or generating and transmission facilities, and other causes. The department cited elevated reliability risks during extreme weather.
The area includes Washington, Oregon, Montana and parts of northern California and Idaho. DOE said keeping Centralia available could reduce the risk of power outages affecting homes, businesses and facilities tied to public health and safety.
The order extends a series of earlier Section 202(c) directives involving Centralia. DOE said previous orders required the unit to remain available through March 16, June 14 and Sept. 12, 2026.
What changes for Centralia
Centralia Unit 2 is Washington’s remaining coal-fired generating unit. It began operating in 1973 and was scheduled to stop operating in December 2025 under Washington’s coal-transition law and related agreements with TransAlta.
TransAlta has announced plans to convert the unit to natural gas by 2028. The conversion is separate from the new emergency availability order. The order also directs TransAlta to notify DOE within 15 days after receiving any permits needed for the conversion.
DOE’s order requires TransAlta to provide information by Sept. 27 about steps taken or planned to ensure the unit remains available and about the order’s environmental effects. The order states that Centralia Unit 2 is not considered a capacity resource under the order.
Environmental rules still apply
The emergency order does not remove Centralia’s environmental obligations. It requires operations to comply with applicable environmental requirements, including monitoring, reporting and recordkeeping, to the maximum extent feasible while responding to emergency conditions.
The order also says it does not provide relief from obligations to pay emissions fees or purchase required offsets or allowances. Washington’s Department of Ecology says the state’s coal-transition requirements required the plant’s two boilers to meet greenhouse-gas performance standards by the end of 2020 and 2025, respectively.
A same-day legal test in Michigan
The Centralia order came the same day the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected a similar DOE order involving Michigan’s J.H. Campbell coal plant.
In that case, the court said Section 202(c) is a narrow, last-resort authority for immediate emergencies requiring federal action. The unanimous panel found that DOE had exceeded its authority by requiring the Michigan plant to remain open beyond a planned retirement, according to The Associated Press.
The Michigan ruling did not decide whether the Centralia order is lawful. The plants, regional reliability circumstances and DOE orders are different. But the decision creates a new legal question for the administration’s broader effort to keep older power plants available after planned retirement dates.
What reliability reviews show
A Sept. 10 review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation found that the bulk-power system performed well during extreme cold events earlier in 2026, with no significant disruptions in the electric or natural-gas systems.
The review credited improved preparation, coordination, cold-weather standards and additional resource availability from emergency orders. It also said the electric and natural-gas systems were stretched over multiple days and remained vulnerable during prolonged severe weather.
Federal reliability officials called for additional natural-gas infrastructure, better coordination between the gas and electric industries, and improved load forecasting. Strong performance during the winter review does not mean the region faces no future reliability risk.
What to watch next
For Washington, the next developments include any legal challenge or rehearing activity involving the Centralia order, whether the unit is dispatched during extreme weather, and the state’s continuing environmental and fuel-transition proceedings.
The order keeps Centralia Unit 2 available through Dec. 11, but it does not guarantee continuous operation or resolve the broader dispute over how far federal emergency authority can reach when state-approved power-plant retirements are involved.
Sources
- DOE Order No. 202-26-44
- FERC-NERC winter 2026 reliability review
- D.C. Circuit ruling on Michigan’s J.H. Campbell plant
- Washington Department of Ecology: TransAlta
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