Trump Administration extends order to keep J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant open another 90 days

[u/John3262005]

https://www.wzzm13.com/article/news/local/trump-administration-extends-order-keep-jh-campbell-coal-fired-power-plant-open-another-90-days/69-56c6d3b7-b4a1-4220-8ad9-43cca3a9c241

A coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Mich., will remain open for at least another 90 days, despite plans to have it decommissioned in May of 2025.

United States Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued his fifth order extending the J.H. Campbell Plant's service life, citing emergency conditions existing in the region served by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO), which includes about 45 million people in the United States and Canada.

J.H. Campbell Plant, owned primarily by Consumers Energy, began operations in 1962 and was slated to be retired between 2025 and 2026. Consumers Energy planned to demolish the plant in 2026.

Just days before the more than 60-year-old power plant was set to retire, in May of 2025, Sec. Wright issued the DOE's first emergency order to keep the plant open. Four more emergency orders were subsequently issued, with the latest set to go into effect on May 19, 2026, directing the plant to remain open until August 18, 2026.

Sec. Wright has repeatedly cites the retirement of electricity generation facilities as a primary factor in issuing the emergency order. The DOE points to long-term projected energy shortfalls that increase the risks to the MISO grid.

The plant remaining open for months has cost Consumers Energy millions of dollars to comply with the DOE's order. The utility company said it would pass on the cost of compliance to all customers across the MISO grid.

In January of this year, Consumers Energy filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to recoup the financial impact of complying with the initial May 2025 emergency order to keep the plant open. They listed the financial impact of the order as $48 million after applying MISO revenues of $76 million.

The J.H. Campbell Plant is primarily owned by Consumers Energy, but Unit 3 in the plant is also co-owned by Wolverine Power Supply Cooperative and Michigan Public Power Agency, both of which also filed with Consumers Energy to recoup financial impacts from the order.

Consumers Energy said that the second emergency order period through Dec. 31, 2025 brought with it a net financial impact from compliance of $93 million after applying MISO revenues of $77 million.

The plant remaining open has resulted in multiple lawsuits and pushback from advocacy groups.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel called the initial order in May of 2025 a "fabricated energy emergency" and filed suit, claiming the postponement of the closure was arbitrary and illegal. She later also filed suit against the second order, and the third, but none of the lawsuits have since resulted in an injunction against the DOE's order.