SEATTLE — The state Senate approved a bill Saturday that would eventually shut down Washington’s only coal-fired power plant, a move that could help the state meet climate change goals set in 2008.
The measure, Senate Bill 5769, was part of a deal negotiated among plant owner TransAlta, state officials and environmental groups. It would shut down one of the plant’s two boilers by 2020 and phase out coal-burning by 2025.
The Canada-based company had been under legislative pressure this session to shut down the facility near Centralia as early as 2015. The parties negotiated this week to present a plan to lawmakers before a Monday legislative deadline.
The proposed agreement allows TransAlta to enter into long-term contracts for coal power, which is currently prohibited, said company spokeswoman Angela Mallow. It requires gradual reductions in greenhouse gas emissions before 2025.
The company also agreed to provide $30 million in community reinvestment and $25 million to support innovative energy technologies in the state.
“We believe it will provide certainty for TransAlta, our employees and our community,” said Mallow. “We’re encouraging legislators to support the bill.”
Clifford Traisman, state lobbyist for both the Washington Environmental Council and the Washington Conservation Voters, said the agreement is a win for all parties. “We feel like we all — the company, the local community and the environmentalists — have defied the odds to get to this place,” he said.
The 1,376-megawatt power plant has been an environmental target because it spews out considerable air pollution. It is the state’s top point source of greenhouse gases, toxic mercury and nitrogen oxide, and second in sulfur dioxide that causes acid rain, according to Department of Ecology data.
“It’s a public health disaster,” said Doug Howell, campaign director of the Sierra Club’s Coal-free Washington campaign. “It is the dirtiest form of energy of all fossil fuels.”
Transitioning the plant off coal is seen as key for the state to meet climate change goals that lawmakers set in 2008.
“What a proud day for the Centralia community, and all of Washington state,” Gov. Chris Gregoire said, noting that the compromise provides cleaner air, while ensuring job protection for the community and leaving enough power on the grid.
Sen. Phil Rockefeller, the Bainbridge Island Democrat who is the bill’s prime sponsor, called it “an agreement that works for the company, the community and the people of our state.”
A more aggressive House measure, with a shutdown date of 2015, died in committee. Rockefeller’s initial proposal called for phasing out coal as early as 2020 but was amended to allow an agreement to be negotiated.
Under the agreement, Trans-Alta will install additional air pollution controls in 2013 to further reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides at the plant. Environmentalists have fought hard for those tougher controls over the years.
TransAlta had garnered considerable support from union workers, business groups and the community in its efforts to oppose an early shutdown. Several hundred people, including Centralia’s mayor, rallied last month on the steps of the Capitol to support the company.
Senate opponents of the deal said the agreement will mean rate increases and job losses, even with community development money. “I’m very concerned that we have 300 high-paying jobs in Lewis County,” said Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside. “I know they have money for economic development, but I like to see jobs.”
The Centralia plant accounts for 10 percent of the power generated in Washington, and lawmakers and state officials have worried about the stability of the electrical supply.
The company’s plan is to build replacement power generation, most likely a large-scale gas-fired facility by 2020, Mallow said. The agreement gives Trans-Alta expedited permitting for a natural gas facility at the existing Centralia site, she added.
The bill, which was approved on a 36-13 vote, now goes to the state House for further consideration.
