Dive Brief:
- Washington regulators directed Puget Sound Energy to take a closer look at its reliance on the coal-fired Colstrip plant in Montana, which supplies about 30% of the utility's power.
- The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) “acknowledged” PSE's 20-year resource plan, but said the utility failed to answer questions about whether owning 667 MW of the Colstrip plant made economic sense.
- The UTC said it needs more information before it can determine “the prudency of any new investment in Colstrip…or, in the alternative, a closure or partial-closure plan.”
Dive Insight:
The four-unit, 2,094-MW Colstrip plant faces an uncertain future. PPL Montana, for example, has a 529-MW stake in the plant. Northwestern Energy, which is buying PPL's hydroelectric plants in Montana, considered buying PPL's Colstrip stake in the smaller Corette plant, which Northwestern Energy assigned a negative value of $340 million.
The UTC will keep an eye on any investments that PSE might want to make in the plant to be sure they are good for ratepayers. Avista, which owns 233 MW in Colstrip, is also regulated by the UTC.
“Once you do a full financial accounting of the damage from Colstrip’s operation, it is clear that there is a strong economic case, and not just an environmental case, against Colstrip,” the Sierra Club's Doug Howell said. “Combined with the [Washington] governor's call for a carbon-free electricity grid, the UTC announcement signals that we are no longer at a crossroads – our state is moving down the clean energy path."
