WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODER AND HARDER? DOE orders WA coal plant to continue operating despite state ban.

The state’s last coal plant was scheduled to close at the end of this year and Puget Sound Energy, which had bought coal-fired electricity from the plant, had agreed to convert the plant to burn natural gas. The closure had been negotiated between the state, TransAlta and climate and energy advocates in an agreement first reached in 2011.

The order, which mirrors other efforts by the Department of Energy at other soon-to-retire coal plants across the country, sets the state and federal government up for a political fight, said Lauren McCloy, a utility and regulatory director of the NW Energy Coalition.

All Washington state utilities are required to stop using coal-fired electricity after this year, under the state’s Clean Energy Transformation Act. The landmark climate law also calls for utilities to become greenhouse gas “neutral” by 2030 and have emission-free electricity by 2045 or risk steep fines.

More:

The federal order cites a report commissioned by the region’s largest utilities that has said the risk of rolling blackouts during extreme weather events like cold snaps and heat waves due to insufficient power generation is increasing across the Northwest.

In short, the Trump administration probably just saved Washington state residents from unnecessary rolling blackouts.

But maybe they shouldn’t have.