New targeted tax in WA aims to keep coal power plant shut down
Tax legislation Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed Wednesday targets the last coal-fired power plant in the Pacific Northwest.
But if the coal tax and a related climate pollution fee work as the Legislature intended, the state treasury will never collect a dime under the new law. That is because the idled Centralia, Washington, generating plant will be uneconomical to restart burning coal.
The Democratically controlled Legislature, governor and attorney general are working in concert to thwart moves by the Trump administration to sustain coal power, specifically at the Centralia facility.
“Washington is not going backward on clean energy,” Ferguson said at the bill signing ceremony. “(This) keeps the state on track to phase out coal power as we have been planning to do so for the last 15 years.”
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2026/03/11/new-targeted-tax-in-wa-aims-to-keep-coal-power-plant-shut-down/