Coal news and updates

A big coal shutdown -- plants part-owned by Puget Sound Energy

Two aging Montana coal plants, part-owned by Puget Sound Energy, will cease operations by the end of 2019, more than two years before the previously announced phaseout date.

The plants, Colstrip 1 and 2, were built in the mid-1970's and cannot compete with natural gas and renewable energy.

"The plant team as done a great job of responding to the challenges faced by Units 1 and 2, but we have been unsuccessful in making the units economically viable," Dale Lebsack of Talen Energy, which manages the plants, said in a statement.

Puget Sound Energy is part-owner of Units 1 and 2. The Bellevue-based utility must live with recently passed legislation that would phase out generation and/or use of coal power in Washington by 2025.

Despite President Trump's advocacy or coal, and promise to restore it, coal has continued its decline as an energy source in America. Major coal producers, the latest Cloud Peak Energy in Wyoming, have filed for bankruptcy protection..

Units 1 and 2 at Colstrip burn two million tons of coal a year. They get it from nearby Rosebud Mine. The mine is operated by Westmoreland Mining LLC, composed of creditors of the Westmoreland Coal Co. It, too, is bankrupt.

The region's environmental groups have taken aim at Colstrip Units 3 and 4, which continue to operate but may have a short life.

"It's time for Puget Sound Energy to commit to quit propping up Units 3 and 4 with continued funding, and replace that dirty power," said Doug Howell of the Sierra Club.

Washington is phasing out its one coal-fired power plant, at Centralia, and Oregon is moving to a coal-free future.

"We are truly on the path beyond coal at last: Our clean grid bill required the elimination of coal by 2025. We may very well see coal gone by 2023," said State Rep. Gael Tarleton, D-Seattle, a sponsor of the legislation.

Source: SeattlePI