The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Mar. 16 that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order requiring TransAlta to keep Unit 2 of the Centralia Generating Station in Washington available for operation, despite its planned closure at the end of 2025. The decision aims to ensure affordable, reliable, and secure electricity for residents in the Northwestern United States and to address concerns about potential blackouts.
The move is intended to maintain grid stability across the region by keeping a major source of power online. According to the Department of Energy, this action will help avoid unnecessary blackout risks and costs associated with taking reliable power sources offline.
“The last administration’s energy subtraction policies had the United States on track to likely experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years — thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” said Secretary Wright. “The Trump administration will continue taking action to keep America’s coal plants running so we can stop the price spikes and ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power their homes all the time, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
This order follows a previous emergency directive issued by Wright on December 16, 2025, also aimed at keeping Unit 2 (729.9 MW) operational. The Department’s Resource Adequacy Report indicated that if reliable power continued being removed from service as during the Biden administration, blackouts could increase one hundredfold by 2030.
Meanwhile, other federal initiatives have focused on clean energy and resilience programs. For example, the Department of Energy announced a $225 million program funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for implementing new building energy codes. In July 2022, Secretary Jennifer Granholm encouraged international cooperation on clean energy transitions at a global forum in Pittsburgh.
Technology development remains central to DOE activities; William White and Vahid Majidi highlighted national laboratory involvement in environmental cleanup missions before Congress in July 2022. At Savannah River Site (SRS), an innovative passive process using crushed marble is being used to treat groundwater at a former coal-fired plant.
Efforts toward decarbonization continue as well; DOE announced $96 million for advancing electric vehicle technologies and reducing carbon emissions from transportation sectors in July 2022. Additionally, 146 programs supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative were launched to direct clean energy investments toward disadvantaged communities.
The emergency order for Centralia Unit 2 will be effective from March 17 through June 14, with further actions possible depending on regional grid needs.
