Centralia Coal Transition Board
Economic & Community Development Board Supports Sustainability Workforce Development-Phase II
Centralia, Wash. (May 16, 2025) In April 2024 the Centralia Coal Transition Board approved a grant award to Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) in the amount of $175,500 to support a Phase I collaboration project to establish a pathway for sustainable workforce development. The goal of the project is to develop pathways that 1) accelerate building owners’ compliance with building efficiency standards; 2) facilitate higher education faculty engagement with topics such as building efficiency standards policy, environmental science, clean energy, HVAC and more, and 3) provide internship opportunities to residents, high school and college students.
Building on the success of those efforts the board has awarded an additional grant to SEI in the amount of $205,526.00 for Phase II. During Phase II SEI will build upon relationships established in Phase I, support local high school teachers with Energy Auditing curriculum implementation, provide internship opportunities to high school and college students and through Climate Corps Fellow staffing support, continue to support clean energy industry career connections and learning opportunities in K-12 and higher education. Phase II will continue through May 30, 2026.
Strategic Energy Innovations (SEI) is an environmental nonprofit consultancy that builds leaders to drive and accelerate sustainability solutions. For over 25 years SEI has partnered with schools, communities, and businesses to develop leadership pathways from elementary school to early career. SEI will work closely with the Pacific Northwest Center of Excellence for Clean Energy hosted at Centralia College and other local programs directed toward high school students in the Lewis and South Thurston County areas.
The Economic & Community Development Board was formed as part of the 2011 Agreement between TransAlta and the state of Washington to transition the Centralia plant away from coal-fired operations with one unit retiring in December 2020 and the second unit in December 2025.
Overview of the Centralia Coal Transition Funding Boards:
Weatherization Board ($10M): established to fund energy efficiency and weatherization for the residents, employees, business, non-profit organizations and local governments within Lewis County and South Thurston County; up to $1 million shall be allocated to fund residential energy efficiency and weatherization measures for low-income and moderate-income residents of Lewis County and South Thurston County;
Economic & Community Development Board ($20M): established to fund education, retraining, economic development, and community enhancement; at least $5M shall be allocated to fund education, retraining and economic development specifically targeting the needs of workers displaced from the Centralia facility;
Energy Technology Board ($25M): established to fund energy technologies with the potential to create environmental benefits to the state of Washington.