Plant Washington dies quietly after Georgia Environmental Protection Division denies extension

Plant Washington is no more. What was to be the nation’s last new coal-fired power plant near Sandersville died quietly in March after the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) denied a request to extend the construction permit.

Plant Washington was developed in 2008 by Power4Georgians, a now-defunct consortium of electric membership corporations (EMCs), including Central Georgia EMC. While utilities across the country – including Georgia Power Co. – were retiring coal plants during the last decade to reduce their reliance on coal, Power4Georgians was making plans to build an 850-megawatt coal plant.

As planning for the project lagged amid concerns that the Obama administration was about to crack down on carbon emissions from coal plants, Central Georgia EMC and other EMCs pulled out in 2013, leaving Power4Georgians searching for other financial sources.

In a March 6, 2020 letter addressed to Power4Georgians, the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) denied an April 2016 request to extend the plant’s construction permit for 18 more months. The project had been idle for several years, and the letter represents the paperwork to officially close the file. The permit revocation is final.

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