Washington v. U.S. Department of Energy

Five environmental organizations filed a petition for review in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE's) December 16, 2025 order requiring that a coal-fired generation unit at the TransAlta Central Generation electric generating facility in Centralia, Washington, be made available for operation until March 16, 2026. The unit had been slated to cease operation in December 2025. The Secretary of Energy declared that an emergency existed in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Northwest assessment area resulting from increasing demand and accelerated retirement of generation facilities. The environmental organizations’ request for rehearing argued that the order violated the Federal Power Act, including because DOE did not ensure the order was consistent with state environmental laws to the maximum extent practicable, including laws governing the plant’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The State of Washington filed a petition for review in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s December 16, 2025 order requiring that a coal-fired generation unit at the TransAlta Central Generation electric generating facility in Centralia, Washington, be made available for operation until March 16, 2026. The unit had been slated to cease operation in December 2025. The Secretary of Energy declared that an emergency existed in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Northwest assessment area resulting from increasing demand and accelerated retirement of generation facilities. In its request for rehearing, the State had argued that the order violated the Federal Power Act, was arbitrary and not supported by substantial evidence, was arbitrary and capricious, would undermine energy markets and harm consumers, and failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act. Among the harms cited by the State in its request for rehearing was that the order would make it harder for Washington to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions reductions mandates.