Wwp Plans To Sell Stake In Centralia Plant

Washington Water Power Co. wants to sell its share of the Centralia Power Station, the executive in charge of the utility’s thermal operations said Tuesday.

George Perks said the Spokane utility notified Washington regulators and the seven other Centralia owners of its intentions last week.

If all goes well, he said, the 15 percent interest could be sold within months.

“We find Centralia no longer fits in our resource stack,” Perks said.

WWP is entitled to 200 megawatts of power from the West Side coal-fired plant, but does not need that energy to meet customer demand, he said.

Power can be readily obtained in the wholesale market, where WWP has become an active trader, Perks added.

He said a potential $30 million expenditure to fix the plant’s pollution problems did not influence the company’s decision.

A new 200-megawatt plant would cost far more, he said.

In addition to WWP, the Centralia plant owners are PacifiCorp, Puget Sound Power & Light Co., Portland General Electric Co., the public utility districts in Grays Harbor and Snohomish counties, Tacoma City Light and Seattle City Light.

Perks said no price has been set. The share will be offered first to the partners, then to other utilities.

“It’s a very viable project,” he said, particularly for utilities closer to the plant.

A WWP subsidiary was half owner of the coal mine adjacent to the plant until 1990, when those assets were sold for $40.8 million.

Although Perks said WWP has no specific use in mind for the proceeds from the Centralia sale, he indicated other resources would be better suited to the aggressive national power-marketing effort the utility began in the last year.

“The company is changing,” he said.

, DataTimes