WASHINGTON STATE REGULATOR ISSUES DECISION REGARDING LONG-TERM CONTRACT FOR CENTRALIA PLANT

CALGARY, ALBERTA, Jan 10 (MARKET WIRE) --
TransAlta Corporation (TSX:TA)(NYSE:TAC) announced today that the
Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission issued a decision
approving, with conditions, a long-term power purchase agreement between
Puget Sound Energy ("PSE") and TransAlta's subsidiary TransAlta Centralia
Generation LLC (TransAlta) for the Centralia, Washington power plant. PSE
has ten days from the date of the order to petition for reconsideration
or relief of the terms under the order. The proposed agreement would
permit PSE to purchase an average 346 megawatts of coal transition power
from TransAlta's Centralia power plant.

TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused
on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a
low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio
of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta's focus
is to efficiently operate geothermal, wind, hydro, natural gas and coal
facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source
of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator
and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives.
TransAlta has been selected by Jantzi-Sustainalytics as one of Canada's
Top 50 Socially Responsible Companies since 2009 and is recognized
globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate
responsibility standards by FTSE4Good. TransAlta is Canada's largest
investor-owned renewable energy provider.

This news release may contain forward looking statements, including
statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance
of TransAlta Corporation. These statements are based on TransAlta
Corporation's belief and assumptions based on information available at
the time the assumption was made. These statements are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements.
Some of the factors that could cause such differences include, pricing in
the market place, our inability to enter into long term contracts due to
prevailing market conditions, legislative or regulatory developments,
competition, global capital markets activity, changes in interest rates,
currency exchange rates, inflation levels and general economic conditions
in geographic areas where TransAlta Corporation operates.

Contacts:
Media inquiries:
TransAlta Corporation
Stacey Hatcher
Senior Corporate Relations Advisor
Toll Free Media Number: 1-855-255-9189
TA_Media_Relations@transalta.com

Investor inquiries:
TransAlta Corporation
Jess Nieukerk
Director, Investor Relations
(403) 267-3607
jess_nieukerk@transalta.com

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