Court Vacates DOE Order to Keep Michigan Coal Plant Open — SkimNews
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- DC appeals court vacated the DOE's emergency order, ruling there is no "emergency" justifying forcing the J.H. Campbell plant open and that DOE Secretary Chris Wright's department exceeded its authority in issuing it.
- The J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan was scheduled to retire May 17, 2025, but has been forced open for 468 days, costing ratepayers over $259 million to sit idle providing no power.
- Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, joined by nine public interest groups including Sierra Club, NRDC, EDF, and Earth Justice, sued over the order; even the plant's own owners filed opposing the forced continuation.
- Chris Wright's DOE has issued similar emergency orders covering seven plants across six states, with combined ratepayer costs of $547 million and counting, plus $625 million and $700 million in industry grants.
- EDF Lead Counsel Ted Kelly said the ruling "eliminates" DOE's legal basis for arguing the other six plant orders are lawful, since they rely on the same factual and legal arguments as Campbell.
- The source notes NRDC has prevailed in over 90% of its lawsuits against Trump administration anti-environment actions, framing this as part of a broader pattern of courtroom losses.
Why it matters: Michigan ratepayers paid $259 million for a broken coal plant even its owners didn't want running, and environmental groups say this ruling eliminates the legal basis for six similar DOE emergency orders collectively costing $547 million across seven plants. With NRDC winning over 90% of cases against Trump environmental rollbacks, the DOE's emergency-order strategy just lost its first major test.
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