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WASHINGTON, Aug 21 – The U.S. Department of Energy extended its order for the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Michigan, to remain operational until November 19, despite the plant’s plans to shut down permanently for economic reasons. Compliance with the order has already cost the company tens of millions of dollars.
Originally issued in May, the order—typically reserved for emergencies—required the 1,500-megawatt facility to stay open. The directive came just a week before Consumers Energy, the majority owner of the plant, intended to close it and had already depleted its coal stockpile and reassigned staff.
Thursday’s extension is the latest in a series of U.S. moves supporting the fossil fuel sector. This follows actions from President Donald Trump, who declared an energy emergency on the first day of his second term. In April, Trump signed executive orders aimed at bolstering coal production, reversing trends aimed at curbing carbon emissions. He stated that the administration’s efforts would “put the miners back to work.”
Energy Secretary Chris Wright defended the order, saying it was essential to ensuring that Americans could access “affordable, reliable, and secure baseload power”—emphasizing the need for power sources not reliant on variable renewable energy like wind and solar.
Despite these claims, the reliability of renewable energy has improved, particularly in Texas, the U.S. grid with the highest renewable energy share, according to regulatory filings and price data.
Staying open has been costly for Consumers Energy. In a financial filing, the company reported that complying with the original order has already cost $29 million over the first 38 days. Environmental groups estimate that keeping the Campbell plant operational could cost $279 million annually. If other U.S. fossil fuel plants slated to retire by 2028 are also required to stay open, the cost could exceed $3 billion per year. These expenses would likely be passed on to customers across the U.S., except in the Northeast.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled last week that the costs associated with keeping Campbell open could be spread across 10 states in the Midwest.
Consumers Energy spokesperson Brian Wheeler confirmed that the company expects to continue operating the plant as mandated, noting that they were pleased with FERC’s approval to recover these additional costs by distributing them across the region.
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