Public Interest Groups Go to Court to Halt Trump Administration Order to Keep Washington’s Last Coal Plant Operating

(Seattle, WA — March 3, 2026) Today, public interest groups filed a challenge in federal court to overturn an illegal emergency order issued by the Department of Energy (DOE) forcing Washington’s last coal plant to continue operating. 

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. Similar orders have been issued for coal plants in Michigan, Indiana and Colorado and are being challenged by public interest groups as well as attorneys general. Continuing to operate these power plants will unnecessarily drive up household electricity bills and worsen harmful pollution. 

The petition for review filed today in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals follows DOE’s denial of the group’s January request for a rehearing. That rehearing request was made in response to the DOE 90-day emergency order issued on Dec. 16, 2025, just two weeks before the plant’s last coal-burning unit was legally required to shut down at the end of the year. 

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

The DOE order failed to offer evidence of an emergency warranting keeping Centralia’s coal plant open. Utilities have long planned for and offset the plant’s retirement, and the order ignores both near and long term extensive and comprehensive regional energy planning, as well as a 2011 agreement between the State of Washington and TransAlta, the owner of the plant, to shut down the plant. 

Before the shutdown agreement, the plant was the largest single source in Washington of greenhouse gas emissions, comprising 10% of Washington’s total emissions. The plant remains Washington’s largest single source of greenhouse gas and nitrogen oxide pollution, which causes smog and harms human health.

In addition to causing harm to Washington residents, the DOE order also runs counter to federal and state law. Centralia’s shutdown agreement was codified in Washington law and environmental enforcement orders. In addition, Washington state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA) requires utilities to stop using coal-fired electricity by the end of 2025. The aging power plant emits dangerous air pollution that harms people’s health throughout large portions of the state. The coal plant avoided installing modern equipment to meet federal pollution air standards because the owners agreed to retire it by the end of 2025. 

Costs to pay for the continued operation of the unnecessary coal unit will likely be paid by billpayers in the region. Other coal plants are experiencing extremely high costs to comply with similar DOE orders. 

Earthjustice, representing NW Energy Coalition, Washington Conservation Action, and Climate Solutions, along with Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, filed today’s legal challenge asking the court to overturn DOE’s order. The State of Washington filed a parallel legal challenge today, also in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

Following are statements from the public interest groups and Earthjustice. 

“Our region has moved beyond reliance on coal and this plant to meet our energy needs with cleaner sources,” said Earthjustice Attorney Patti Goldman. “This illegal DOE order does the opposite of solving problems – it forces a decrepit coal plant to produce unreliable power while worsening pollution and inevitably raising energy rates for Washington residents.” 

“Washington’s communities deserve clean air, a healthy environment, and energy they can afford,” says Alyssa Macy, Washington Conservation Action’s CEO. “Trump’s order blocking the retirement of the state’s last coal plant threatens all three. We’re committed to defending the progress Washington has made and ensuring decisions that protect people and nature.”

“Especially as energy bills rise and the climate crisis worsens, we won’t let the Trump administration dictate our energy future here in the Northwest by dragging us backwards to the waning coal era,” said Meredith Connolly, Policy and Strategy Director of Climate Solutions. “Washington has moved on from relying on dirty and expensive coal because it dumps mercury and other pollution into our air while costing more to keep the lights on. Instead we’re building more homegrown, affordable resources like solar and wind energy to power our lives.”

“The evidence is clear: the Northwest has plenty of resources to maintain reliability without Centralia, and our utilities and planners in the Northwest are exercising lawful authorities and prudent planning to ensure this continues,” said NW Energy Coalition Utility and Regulatory Director Lauren McCloy. “The Trump administration is not responding to a crisis — it is manufacturing one. This order disrupts planning and causes costs that will be borne by Washington families, who deserve cleaner, more affordable resources — not a lifeline for an unnecessary coal plant.”

“Forcing Washington’s last remaining coal plant to stay online will needlessly jack up electricity bills and toxic mercury pollution,” said Ted Kelly, Director and Lead Counsel for U.S. Clean Energy at Environmental Defense Fund. “This aging coal plant’s retirement has been in the works for 15 years because it’s uneconomic and it’s the largest source of health-harming pollution in the entire state. There’s absolutely no need for the Trump administration to throw years of careful local and state planning out the window. We will keep challenging this illegal order in court.” 

“Trump’s illegal emergency order to keep Washington’s last coal plant running is a cynical attempt by the administration to prop up the coal industry and shift energy costs onto Washington residents,” said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Greg Wannier. “The real threat to energy reliability in the Northwest is the administration’s all-out nationwide assault on renewable energy. Washingtonians deserve a cleaner, more affordable energy future, and we’ll continue our fight to deliver one.”

Background

Efforts to close down the Centralia plant date back nearly 20 years. Earthjustice represented Sierra Club and National Parks and Conservation Association in advocacy and litigation to force the plant to reduce smog and harmful air pollution.