Washington’s ban on coal is coming. Are we prepared?

The state of Washington has decided to step away from coal, considered by some to be one of the dirtiest methods for creating electricity for our grid, and the first benchmark of this deadline is coming up quickly. 

According to Seattletimes.com,
‘Starting next year, Washington utilities will no longer be allowed to use coal-fired electricity. For PSE, which uses more coal-fired electricity than any other state utility, this primarily has come from power plants in Colstrip, Mont., about 130 miles east of Beaver Creek, and in Centralia in Southwest Washington.’ 

The Beaver Creek Wind Farm 

Part of the PSE (Puget Sound Energy) effort to get away from coal was to invest about $530 million in a wind farm in Montana. The Beaver Creek Wind Farm in Montana, when running at full capacity, will generate approximately 248 megawatts. That's enough energy to power about 81,000 homes. 

PSE is Washington state's largest utility, serving approximately 1.2 million people. This wind farm is very important to PSE because up until now almost 25% of its electricity has come from coal-fired power plants both in Montana and in Centralia.  

The elimination of burning coal for generating electricity in Washington state is the first of three steps that were inaugurated in 2019’s Clean Energy Transformation Act. The second step will be to have utilities become greenhouse gas neutral by 2030 and have emissions free Electricity by 2045 or incur stiff fines. 

If you must build a wind farm, Montana is one of the best places to do it because in Montanna the wind blows strongest during the winter months. The plan also includes a battery storage farm in the future. Battery storage for wind and solar is an essential part of a clean, reliable grid. 

Even with all this new wind power out of Montana, PSE will still not meet their goal to totally eliminate fossil fuels for generating electricity. In the short term, they plan on buying power from natural gas powered generating facilities which are considered cleaner than other fossil fuel burning Generating facilities.  

How much more will the rate payer pay? 

To do what PSE is doing is not cheap and eventually they have to pass the expenses on to their customers. The 1.2 million customers of PSE can expect an 18.6% rate hike over the next two years. BSE currently serves Island, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Pierce, Skagit, Thurston, and Whatcom counties. 

As WA’s coal ban looms, Montana wind fills only some of the energy gap | The Seattle Times