OLYMPIA — Senate lawmakers have approved a bill that would gradually shut down Washington’s last coal-fired power plant and phase out coal burning in the state.
The Senate on Thursday voted 33-14 to send the measure to Gov. Chris Gregoire.
The bill would shut down one of two boilers a
t the TransAlta plant by 2020 and the second by 2025. The Centralia facility is a major source of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
The bill requires the Canada-based TransAlta Corp. to provide $55 million for economic development and other assistance and install additional air pollution controls.
In exchange, the company would be allowed to enter into long-term agreements to sell electricity to other utilities.
Democratic Sen. Phil Rockefeller of Bainbridge Island, the bill’s main sponsor, says its passage marks “the final and decisive legislative step” toward ending the state’s reliance on coal.
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