Coal Free Washington

On Our Way to a Coal Free Washington!

For Current information, go to Beyond Coal Washington  

By Seth Ballhorn and Jace Bylenga, Coal Free Washington Organizers

[Published in the Cascade Crest Winter 2014 issue]

 

Colstrip-plume

We have made great strides in the campaign to make Washington a coal free state.  While the last remaining coal plant located in Washington is slated for retirement, Washington utilities still own a large coal plant in Montana, the Colstrip Coal Fired Power Plant.  

Colstrip is the Northwest’s largest source of carbon pollution and one of the dirtiest power plants west of the Mississippi. It emits two times more nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide--known to cause respiratory illnesses--than the next nine-largest air pollution sources in Montana combined. Colstrip’s public health hazards also seep into the water: More than 800 acres of toxic coal ash waste ponds have created an ever-spreading poisonous plume in the groundwater.

 Washington officials, municipalities and residents are expressing an unprecedented level of desire to transition from coal-fired electricity to clean energy solutions for Washington State. Sierra Club supports this move and is asking the Utilities and Transportation Commission to support the will of the people.  Public concern has focused primarily on the Colstrip Generation Facility in Colstrip, Montana. Puget Sound Energy (PSE), Avista Utilities and Pacific Power own Colstrip along with three other utilities. 

 

 

10,000 Petitions Delivered to Puget Sound Energy 

 

In early October, PSE customers, Coal Free PSE activists, and coalition partners delivered over 10,000 petitions to PSE in Olympia.  Accompanying the petitions was a report card, in which PSE was given an “Incomplete” for not coming up with a plan to retire their coal plant. 

These petitions show PSE the broad public support for moving beyond dirty and dangerous coal. This sends a message to their leaders and their corporate investors, sinking our money into a dirty, outdated coal plant is bad business and we’re not going to allow it to happen.

 

Coal Free Avista Campaign Launched

This fall the Northwest Sierra Club launched a Coal Free Avista Campaign in addition to the ongoing Coal Free PSE campaign.  Many people in eastern Washington are finding out about Avista’s use of coal, and are surprised at what they are learning. Hundreds have signed a petition to the Utilities and Transportation Commission asking for a coal free Avista, and on September 24th, many concerned citizens came together at Gonzaga University’s School of Law for a community workshop. Attendees learned about the true cost of coal and abundant clean energy solutions to our coal problem. Avista gets about 20% of its electricity from coal power, primarily from Montana’s Colstrip plant

 

Colstrip strip mineDevelopments Since 2013

Here is a summary of recent actions:

 

On April 2, 2013, Governor Inslee created the Climate Legislative and Executive Workgroup by signing E2SSB 5802. The workgroup found coal-fired electricity to be Washington’s second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and recommended that the state. 

  • In August 2013, more than 3,000 individuals, businesses, colleges and universities, religious institutions, conservation groups and public officials submitted comments calling on the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) to account for the full economic, environmental and public health costs of coal-fired generation.

  • On February 6, 2014, the UTC issued its findings on Puget Sound Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). Commissioners were “unable to conclude that the utility’s continued reliance on older coal-fired power plants in Colstrip, Montana, is justified.”

  • On April 29, 2014, Governor Jay Inslee issued an executive order that included a call for the Legislative Affairs and Policy Office to work with utilities and reduce the electricity sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating Washington’s coal-fired power.

  • Also in fall 2014, the city councils of Bellingham, Olympia, Bainbridge Island and Mercer Island unanimously approved letters calling for the transition from Colstrip to clean energy.

  • As of mid-November, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Council Chair Larry Phillips and nine King County mayors have signed on to a set of Joint County-City Climate Commitments which includes a goal to phase out coal-fired electricity by 2025.

 

Sierra Club Supports a Transition Plan Soon Beyond Coal blue dot

Many individuals and institutions have joined with Sierra Club to support the UTC in calling for utilities to develop clear plans for transitioning from coal-fired electricity to clean energy. We hope the UTC will encourage PSE, Avista and Pacific Power to move this process forward as expediently as possible while ensuring that any plan capitalizes on this one-time opportunity to create thousands of good family-wage wind, solar and energy efficiency jobs for Washington.

 

In the coming months Sierra Club will work hard to ensure that the Puget Sound Energy and Avista come up with a plant to retire Colstrip and replace it with clean energy. 

For more information about the campaign please visit www.coalfreePSE.org or www.coalfreeAvista.org.