On May 7, 2000, Tacoma sells its 8 percent share in a coal-fired steam power plant in Centralia. The plant provided approximately 100 megawatts of electricity for Tacoma fueled by coal from an open-pit mine nearby. It was the largest producer of sulfur dioxide emissions in the state and was blamed for air pollution in Rainier National Park.
In 1970, Tacoma City Light agreed to buy 8 percent of the new plant, which would go on line in 1972. Seven other Northwest utilities, including Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Power and Light (later Puget Sound Energy), owned the balance of the facility. The purchase came at a time when large-scale hydroelectric projects had ended and Tacoma turned to thermal sources -- coal, natural gas, and nuclear power -- for energy.
The plant was blamed for air pollution in Rainier National Park and it was slated for $200 million in upgrades to solve the problem. In May 2000, Tacoma Power and the other seven utilities that owned the plant sold it to TransAlta of Calgary, Alberta, for $545 million.
Sources:
“Sale of Centralia Steam-Electric Plant Final,” The Seattle Times, May 8, 2000, p. B-2; Al Gibbs, “Groups: End Steam Plant Coal Operations,” The News Tribune (Tacoma), March 22, 1999, p. B-1; Dick Malloy and John S. Ott, The Tacoma Public Utilities Story (Tacoma: Tacoma Public Utilities, 1993), 222, 278.
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