On October 29, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) proposed withdrawing its plan to sell its Colstrip coal plant to NorthWest Energy in Montana. This sale would have delayed the coal plant’s closure until 2042, rather than its expected closure of 2025. And in that time period, more than 5+ million tons CO2/year would’ve seeped into our atmosphere. On November 2nd, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) accepted this withdrawal, marking a monumental win for the Beyond Coal Campaign. This victory wouldn’t be possible without the Sierra Club volunteers--- hundreds of people wrote comments and 60 contributed verbal testimony. Our overwhelming opposition to PSE’s proposed sale highlighted how selling its shares to NorthWest Energy in Montana undermined two state climate policies and was a bad deal for PSE customers.
PSE’s plan defied both the Clean Energy Transformation Act and HB 2311. First, our landmark 100% clean electricity law – the Clean Energy Transformation Act – ends all coal in Washington by 2025. So PSE’s proposed sale of Unit 4 was an end-run around this landmark law.
Second, our new mandated climate reduction goals from HB 2311 expressly state that these reductions (95% carbon free by 2050) should be achieved without exporting our emissions to other states, which is exactly what PSE was trying to do. These anti-climate actions really ticked off state legislators, local elected officials, and all of you climate activists. A big shout out to state Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon and King County Dow Constantine for the detailed letters opposing the sale.
This UTC proceeding also revealed how bad the economics are for Colstrip. It is now clear that Colstrip is not cost-effective and that there are cheaper alternatives available. So the longer Colstrip keeps running, the more PSE, Avista, and Pacific Power (the two other Colstrip owners in Washington) customers are being ripped off. There is broad consensus among key UTC stakeholders that Colstrip is a bad deal for customers and it is only going to get worse.
So what are we going to do about it? We clearly do not want to wait until 2025. Sierra Club is actively engaged with the traditional UTC stakeholders (the UTC, Attorney General’s Office, energy and low-income advocates), PSE volunteers, climate activists, and our partners in Montana to address this problem. We know we need to cut off ongoing funding for Colstrip. The more precise question is how? Do we simply try to pressure PSE and others? What would this look like? Do we try to secure a ruling from the UTC? If so, how?
The remaining Colstrip Units 3 and 4 are still the biggest climate polluters in the entire Northwest. When we secure the final move to cut off funding from Washington Colstrip owners, this will lead to Colstrip retirement. And you can be sure Sierra Club will not rest until this happens.
Looking to connect with fellow club members who are passionate about Clean Energy? Click here to fill out our Volunteer Intake form and join the Clean Energy group for monthly socials with news, action opportunities, and more.