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The U.S. Department of Energy has ordered TransAlta to keep Unit 2 of the Centralia Generating Station in Centralia, Washington, available to operate through December 2026. The order requires availability, not continuous generation, so it does not show that the plant is producing power today. It also sets a federal reliability rationale against a state plan to convert the plant from coal to natural gas. This article separates what the order requires, what DOE says, what Washington reports, and what remains unknown.
What the order requires
Energy Secretary Chris Wright announced the emergency order on September 11, 2026. It directs TransAlta Centralia Generation, LLC to ensure that Unit 2 remains available to operate. The key terms are:
- Who it applies to: TransAlta Centralia Generation, LLC, for Unit 2 of the Centralia Generating Station.
- Effective date: September 13, 2026, according to DOE.
- End date: December 11, 2026, according to DOE. TransAlta’s September 14 company release gives December 12, 2026 instead. Until the operative order text is checked, treat the expiration as December 11 or 12, not a single confirmed day.
- Length: TransAlta describes the order as an additional 90-day period. It is the latest in a series of federal orders for this unit, the first of which took effect in December 2025.
Availability is not the same as generation
An order to keep a unit available means the plant must be ready to run when called, with its equipment and staffing in place. It does not require the plant to run at a set level or to supply power on any particular day. Readers should not treat the order as proof that Centralia is producing electricity, and the announcement does not state how often the unit would be dispatched.
Why DOE says it acted
The reliability argument
DOE says the order is meant to help address critical grid reliability issues in the Northwestern United States. The agency describes Centralia’s availability as useful during extreme weather and peak demand in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Northwest region. It also says outages could threaten public health and safety. These are DOE’s stated reasons. The available material does not independently establish how much Centralia contributes to regional reliability.
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Wright’s statement in the announcement reads: “America needs more reliable power, not less, and today’s order will help ensure reliable electricity generation remains available to help address periods of peak demand.”
The NERC assessment DOE cites
In a June 2026 release about an earlier extension, DOE cited the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. DOE summarized that assessment as placing WECC Northwest at high risk of energy shortfalls over the next five years. It pointed to rapid forecast demand growth and projected periods of unserved energy in summer and winter. This is DOE’s account of the NERC assessment. Readers who need the exact findings should consult the NERC report itself.
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What the order interrupts
Centralia was on a path to closing. The sequence, as described by DOE and by the Washington State Department of Ecology, runs as follows:
- 2011: TransAlta agreed with Washington to stop burning coal at the plant by 2025.
- 2020: One of the plant’s two generating units closed.
- End of 2025: The company planned to close the second unit, Unit 2. DOE says Unit 2 had been scheduled to shut down at that time.
- December 2025: DOE issued its first emergency order to keep the unit available. Ecology says the order was extended twice by its July 2026 update.
- September 2026: DOE issued the order described above, running through December 2026.
Washington’s gas transition plan, compared with DOE’s order
Ecology’s July 31, 2026 release describes a proposed transition of the plant to natural gas by 2028. In that plan, the plant would operate as a peaker, backing up other power sources when needed. Ecology also says TransAlta plans to end natural-gas generation in 2044, ahead of Washington’s 2045 deadline for clean electricity. The table below sets the two accounts side by side.
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| Question | U.S. Department of Energy (September 11, 2026 order) | Washington Ecology (July 31, 2026 release) |
|---|---|---|
| Stated purpose | Address critical grid reliability issues in the Northwest, including extreme weather and peak demand | Describes a transition of the plant away from coal |
| Role of the plant | Remain available to operate | Peaker plant, backing up other power sources when needed |
| Timeline | September 13 to December 11, 2026 (TransAlta says December 12) | Proposed natural-gas transition by 2028; gas generation to end in 2044 |
| Dispatch (whether the plant is supplying the grid) | Not stated in the announcement | Not called on to supply the grid since mid-December 2025, as of the July 31 release |
| Emissions effects | Not stated in the announcement | Expected to reduce greenhouse-gas and most toxic air emissions associated with coal, while increasing volatile organic compound emissions |
| Status | Order in effect for the stated period | A proposed plan, not a completed transition |
DOE’s release argues for a reliability need. Ecology’s release describes state transition planning and reports historical dispatch. They answer different questions and should not be read as equivalent technical assessments.
Is Centralia producing electricity?
The public record contains dated facts that do not combine into a current picture:
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- Ecology reported in its July 31, 2026 release that the plant had not been called on to supply electricity to the grid since mid-December 2025. That statement covers the period up to the July release only.
- DOE’s September order requires availability, and the public announcement gives no generation or dispatch figure for the period since it took effect on September 13.
- The only annual output figure in the available material covers 2025, discussed in the next section, and it does not describe the period after mid-December 2025.
Anyone writing about the plant’s current output should check the operator’s or the regulator’s latest data before drawing a conclusion.
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DOE’s 17-gigawatt claim
DOE’s September 11 release says more than 17 gigawatts of coal-power generation were saved from going offline in 2025. That is DOE’s own claim. It was not independently verified in the material available for this article, and it is not specific to Centralia.
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The 340,000 MWh monthly average
DOE’s June 12, 2026 release says Centralia generated an average of approximately 340,000 megawatt-hours per month in 2025, attributing the figure to EPA data. This is an average for 2025 only. Because Ecology reports that the plant was not called on from mid-December 2025 onward, the average does not describe current output or show that the plant ran without interruption through 2025.
What this means for household budgets
The available statements do not include a cost estimate for the September 2026 order, and they do not say whether the order would change electricity bills for Washington customers or for the wider Northwest. Readers should not assume a bill impact in either direction until a cost figure or cost-recovery disclosure is published by the parties involved or by the relevant regulators.
The available material also does not describe the outcome of any legal challenge to the order, so its long-term status is not settled. Anyone tracking the order should watch the DOE order text and any TransAlta filings for the operative end date, and Ecology’s updates for the transition timeline and dispatch status.
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