Pair of Puget Sound Energy coal plants set to close
Two Puget Sound Energy coal plants will close in December because of financial challenges.
The two coal producing units are co-owned by PSE and Talen Energy and are part of the larger Colstrip, Montana power plant.
Puget Sound Energy, Washington’s biggest electrical utility, gets an estimated 38 percent of its power from Colstrip’s plants. That comes from four coal facilities, the oldest two of which are now set to close.
PSE’s Director of Generation and Natural Gas Storage, Ron Roberts, says they’ll need to find a replacement for the power PSE will lose in December. He says it won’t be coal.
“We would be looking primarily at hydro resources within the reason. As well as we have a all-source request for proposals out to look at replacement power,” says Roberts.
The two older coal plants were already mandated to close in 2020 due to a settlement from environmental lawsuits.
But Talen Montana announced Tuesday that these two units are no longer economically viable and it’s closing them early.
