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, reversing its planned shutdown at the end of 2025. The decision aims to ensure affordable, reliable, and secure electricity for residents in the Northwestern United States and reduce the risk of blackouts.
The move is intended to address concerns about grid stability and prevent potential power shortages as more reliable generation sources are taken offline. According to the Department of Energy’s Resource Adequacy Report, if previous policies continued, blackouts could have increased by up to 100 times by 2030.
“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 current order will be effective from March 17 through June 14.
While this policy focuses on maintaining coal-fired generation for reliability reasons, other recent federal initiatives have targeted clean energy and efficiency improvements. For example, the Department of Energy announced a $225 million program in July 2022 funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support implementation of updated building energy codes. In addition, former Secretary Jennifer Granholm called on international partners in July 2022 to accelerate clean energy transitions at a global forum.
Technology development has also played a role in environmental management efforts; DOE officials highlighted national laboratory involvement in cleanup missions before Congress in July 2022. At specific sites like Savannah River Site (SRS), an innovative passive process using crushed marble has been applied to improve groundwater quality near former coal-fired plants.
Other DOE programs have focused on decarbonizing transportation with $96 million allocated for expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure and advancing cleaner engine technologies as announced in July 2022. Additionally, 146 programs were launched under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative aiming to direct clean energy investments toward disadvantaged communities.
As federal energy policy continues evolving between administrations with different priorities—balancing reliability with sustainability—the future mix of U.S. electricity generation remains a subject of ongoing debate.
