WASHINGTON – In a setback for the Trump administration, a federal appeals court ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy exceeded its authority when it ordered a Michigan coal-fired power plant to remain open beyond its planned retirement date.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright had argued that the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell Generating Plant was necessary to maintain reliable electricity in the region. Using emergency powers, he ordered the plant to continue operating after its scheduled May 2025 retirement.
Environmental groups, along with Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, challenged the orders in court. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in their favor, finding that the circumstances did not qualify as an emergency under federal law.
“The Federal Power Act’s emergency authority is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop,” Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote in the unanimous decision.
Pillard said forcing the Campbell plant to reverse its “long and carefully planned retirement” was disruptive and that there was no emergency that legally justified the order.
The Michigan case is part of a broader series of legal challenges involving the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to keep aging coal plants operating across the country. Similar orders have affected plants in Indiana, Colorado, Florida and Washington state. The administration also ordered an oil and gas plant in Pennsylvania to continue operating as a precaution against possible electricity shortages in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Critics argue that keeping these aging facilities open increases electricity costs for consumers while continuing pollution that could otherwise have been avoided.
The Grand Haven Tribune reports that financial filings show that keeping the Michigan plant open beyond its planned retirement has cost approximately $259 million so far. Opponents of the order say those costs are likely to be passed on to families and businesses throughout the Midwest.
Ted Kelly, U.S. clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the ruling rejected the administration’s broader effort to keep aging coal plants operating despite their costs and environmental impacts.
What happens next?
Ottawa News Network reports that Nessel, who led oral arguments before the court earlier this year, praised the decision and slammed the administration’s reliance on emergency powers.
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