Heatmap: Washington State Just Outmaneuvered Trump’s Coal Order

March 11 - Trump may have ordered Washington’s last coal-fired power plant to stay open, but it’s unlikely ever to operate ever again thanks to a crafty bit of policy the Evergreen state just passed. Washington’s Governor Bob Ferguson is expected to sign a bill today that accomplishes one very narrow goal: It taxes the hell out of any electricity generated by the TransAlta Centralia coal plant, effectively pricing it out of the market. The Centralia plant was scheduled to close at the end of 2025 and begin undergoing a conversion to run on natural gas. In mid-December, however, Trump’s Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order to keep the plant’s coal unit open through March 16, 2026. Read ON.