Earthjustice & Sierra Club Blast Trump Administration Order to Keep Washington’s Last Coal Plant Open

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Washington residents deserve cleaner air and more affordable, reliable, clean energy.

Seattle, WA — Last night, the Department of Energy (DOE) renewed an emergency order forcing the TransAlta coal plant in Centralia to remain open, despite a challenge in federal court to overturn the Trump administration’s original illegal order.

“The Department of Energy cannot twist the law to suit its preference for dirty, inefficient coal plants. TransAlta has never said it wants to keep the coal plant open, and the people of Washington don’t want unreliable energy and more pollution,” said Patti Goldman, senior attorney at Earthjustice. “Instead of solving energy affordability issues, the Trump administration is creating new problems. We will not let this stand.”

“This order doubles down on the sham emergency the Trump administration used the first time it targeted Centralia, and will only further strain Washingtonians’ energy costs,” said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Greg Wannier. “The biggest risk to reliability in the Northwest continues to be this administration’s interference in the long-planned and fully considered energy transition that regional planners laid out using existing procedures. If Donald Trump really cared about lowering costs and improving energy reliability, he would get out of the way and let the professionals do their job.”

Background

Earlier this month, Earthjustice, representing NW Energy Coalition, Washington Conservation Action, and Climate Solutions, along with Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, filed a challenge to overturn an illegal emergency order issued by DOE to force Washington’s last coal plant to continue operating. The State of Washington filed a similar lawsuit.

The groups’ legal challenge asserts the Trump administration is unlawfully using Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, which generally allows DOE to order power plants to operate for short periods of time in response to imminent and unexpected shortfalls. This DOE order exceeds that authority and tries to impose the administration’s preference for coal-fired power.

The DOE order for the TransAlta coal plant in Centralia is one of several issued by the Trump administration to prevent the long-planned retirement of some of the oldest, dirtiest, most expensive and unreliable coal-burning power plants across the country. Other orders issued for coal plants in Michigan, Indiana and Colorado are being challenged by public interest groups as well as attorneys general. The unlawful orders will unnecessarily drive up household electricity bills and worsen harmful pollution.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person’s right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.