Trump administration issues third mandate forcing Washington’s last coal plant to stay open longer, despite not running

(WASHINGTON – June 15, 2026) The Trump administration issued a third illegal emergency order mandating the TransAlta Centralia coal plant – Washington state’s last remaining coal plant – to operate for an additional 90 days past its original planned retirement date in December 2025.

TransAlta, the plant owner, is already seeking to recover$19.9 million from ratepayers to cover the costs of keeping the plant operational. The company estimates it will need to spend an additional $23 million to repair the plant if the Trump administration continues to issue emergency orders, costs that will also be passed onto ratepayers.

Meanwhile, the plant has not been called on to produce electricity, despite the Department of Energy claiming there is an ongoing “energy emergency.” EDF analysis of electricity generation data during the first emergency order period revealed that the Centralia plant had not generated any meaningful electric power. Based on available data from the Energy Information Administration, the plant did not produce electric power during the second 90-day emergency period this Spring either.

“If this coal plant is supposedly essential to keeping the lights on, then why has it been sitting idle while families and businesses pay the enormous costs of keeping it online?” said Ted Kelly, Director and Lead Counsel for U.S. Clean Energy at Environmental Defense Fund.

“The answer is simple: there is no emergency. The utility, grid operators and state planners were right to plan careful retirement of the Centralia plant at the end of last year to save ratepayers money. 

“These coal mandates are increasingly being exposed for what they are: wasteful charades that leave families and businesses holding the bag.”

Similar illegal emergency orders have been issued for old, unreliable coal plants in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado and most recently in Florida. The continued operation of the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan, which has been forced open by the Trump administration since May 2025, is costing families and businesses over $180 million – over $600,000 a day. 

Last month, a federal Circuit Court heard a challenge to the Campbell coal plant’s extension brought by three states and public interest groups. The case, the first to be heard in court, could determine the fate of similar emergency orders.