Order keeping Michigan coal plant open expires Saturday as costs hit $295 million

The Trump administration's emergency order forcing a 64-year-old Michigan coal plant to keep running expires this Saturday, Nov. 14 ¹²⁴. The J.H. Campbell plant in West Olive was supposed to retire on May 31, 2025. The order has kept it open nearly a year and a half past that date ⁶.

The Energy Department has issued a new order about every 90 days since May 2025, so another extension would fit the pattern ¹. It has kept issuing them even though a federal appeals court ruled in September that the first order was unlawful ¹⁴.

Then there's the cost. Consumers Energy, which owns the plant, has reported $295 million in costs from May 2025 through June 30, 2026. It wants to recover that money from electric customers across the northern and central regions of the Midwest power grid ⁶.

Campbell isn't the only one. Energy Department records show orders for two more plants also run out within days: Talen's Wagner Unit 4 on Nov. 17, and Constellation's Eddystone Units 3 and 4 on Nov. 20 ². Orders for plants in Washington state, Indiana and Colorado run into December ²⁴.

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What the court said

On Sept. 11, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the Energy Department had gone beyond its legal authority ³⁴. Environmental groups and three states, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, had brought the case ⁴.

The law in question is Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, which gives the government emergency powers when there is an immediate threat to the electricity supply ³. Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote that the section "is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop." She found there was "no 'emergency' within the meaning" of the law ⁴.

But the ruling threw out only the first order, which had already expired in August 2025. The court has not yet reviewed any of the later orders ³. The department has asked the court to hear the case again, arguing that the limits of its emergency power are a question of "exceptional importance" ³.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary costs are stacking up

Who pays

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has challenged the orders one after another and filed several petitions with the appeals court ⁶. Her office says retiring the plant on schedule would have saved Michigan ratepayers nearly $600 million ⁶. She is also fighting Consumers Energy's request to recover its costs before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC ⁶.

The totals depend on who is counting and when. Nessel's office estimated earlier that the order cost Consumers Energy customers $180 million through March 2026 ⁵. Newer financial filings show about $259 million ⁴, and the attorney general's office said in September that the extra cost had reached $295 million ¹.

Colorado shows how steep the cost can be. In the first half of 2026, Craig Unit 1 ran only in April. Yet the utility SRP, which owns 29% of the unit, estimated its customers could pay up to $704 per megawatt-hour for the plant to run under the orders ⁷. The Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group, says that is almost eight times the cost of solar plus battery storage, based on the utility's own estimates ⁷.

Michigan families can't afford to pay this added cost of this stubborn Department of Energy's stance

The administration's case

Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the orders protect people. In August, the department said Campbell had been "operating regularly during periods of high energy demand" ⁵. Wright said "Ensuring coal plants such as the Campbell Plant are available to operate" during high demand "saves lives" ⁵.

doing everything in our power to mitigate the possibility of power outages

Winter grid risks are real. Jim Robb, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), said in a statement last week that the power system still faces serious reliability risks in winter ⁸. But NERC also found that 99% of the country's winter generating capacity said it could run in extreme cold ⁸.

PJM Interconnection runs the regional grid that includes the Eddystone and Wagner units. It expects 182,426 megawatts of working capacity this winter, compared with a forecast peak demand of about 147,500 megawatts ²⁸. That peak would be a winter record, but supply would still be well above it ⁸.

What to watch

The pattern so far: each order lasts about 90 days, and court challenges move far more slowly ¹³. The only order a court has ruled on had already expired by the time of the ruling ³. Meanwhile, the costs keep growing and are being passed toward customers' bills ¹⁶.

Watch for two things in the coming days. First, whether the Energy Department issues a seventh Campbell order before Saturday and renews the Wagner and Eddystone orders the following week ². Second, whether the appeals court agrees to rehear the case ³.

The Record

1. May 23, 2025The Energy Department issues its first emergency order keeping the J.H. Campbell plant open, days before its planned May 31, 2025 retirement ⁶.
2. Aug 14, 2026The department issues another order requiring Campbell to keep running through Nov. 14, 2026 ²⁵.
3. Sep 11, 2026A three-judge D.C. Circuit panel unanimously throws out the first Campbell order, ruling the department exceeded its authority ³⁴.
4. Oct 30, 2026The American Public Power Association reports that the department has asked the appeals court to rehear the case ³.
5. Nov 14, 2026The current Campbell order expires; orders for Wagner Unit 4 and Eddystone Units 3 and 4 follow on Nov. 17 and Nov. 20 ².

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<h2>Order keeping Michigan coal plant open expires Saturday as costs hit $295 million</h2> <p><em>By The GOP Files National Desk. This article first appeared on <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open-expires-saturday-as-costs-hit-295-million">The GOP Files</a> on Wednesday, November 11, 2026.</em></p> <p>The Trump administration&#39;s emergency order forcing a 64-year-old Michigan coal plant to keep running expires this Saturday, Nov. 14 . The J.H. Campbell plant in West Olive was supposed to retire on May 31, 2025. The order has kept it open nearly a year and a half past that date .</p> <p>The Energy Department has issued a new order about every 90 days since May 2025, so another extension would fit the pattern . It has kept issuing them even though a federal appeals court ruled in September that the first order was unlawful .</p> <p>Then there&#39;s the cost. Consumers Energy, which owns the plant, has reported $295 million in costs from May 2025 through June 30, 2026. It wants to recover that money from electric customers across the northern and central regions of the Midwest power grid .</p> <p>Campbell isn&#39;t the only one. Energy Department records show orders for two more plants also run out within days: Talen&#39;s Wagner Unit 4 on Nov. 17, and Constellation&#39;s Eddystone Units 3 and 4 on Nov. 20 . Orders for plants in Washington state, Indiana and Colorado run into December .</p> <h2>What the court said</h2> <p>On Sept. 11, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled unanimously that the Energy Department had gone beyond its legal authority . Environmental groups and three states, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, had brought the case .</p> <p>The law in question is Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, which gives the government emergency powers when there is an immediate threat to the electricity supply . Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote that the section &quot;is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop.&quot; She found there was &quot;no &#39;emergency&#39; within the meaning&quot; of the law .</p> <p>But the ruling threw out only the first order, which had already expired in August 2025. The court has not yet reviewed any of the later orders . The department has asked the court to hear the case again, arguing that the limits of its emergency power are a question of &quot;exceptional importance&quot; .</p> <blockquote><p>Hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary costs are stacking up</p><p>&mdash; Dana Nessel, Michigan attorney general, D-Mich.</p></blockquote> <h2>Who pays</h2> <p>Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has challenged the orders one after another and filed several petitions with the appeals court . Her office says retiring the plant on schedule would have saved Michigan ratepayers nearly $600 million . She is also fighting Consumers Energy&#39;s request to recover its costs before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC .</p> <p>The totals depend on who is counting and when. Nessel&#39;s office estimated earlier that the order cost Consumers Energy customers $180 million through March 2026 . Newer financial filings show about $259 million , and the attorney general&#39;s office said in September that the extra cost had reached $295 million .</p> <p>Colorado shows how steep the cost can be. In the first half of 2026, Craig Unit 1 ran only in April. Yet the utility SRP, which owns 29% of the unit, estimated its customers could pay up to $704 per megawatt-hour for the plant to run under the orders . The Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group, says that is almost eight times the cost of solar plus battery storage, based on the utility&#39;s own estimates .</p> <blockquote><p>Michigan families can&#39;t afford to pay this added cost of this stubborn Department of Energy&#39;s stance</p><p>&mdash; Sergio Cira Reyes, climate justice catalyst, Urban Core Collective</p></blockquote> <h2>The administration&#39;s case</h2> <p>Energy Secretary Chris Wright says the orders protect people. In August, the department said Campbell had been &quot;operating regularly during periods of high energy demand&quot; . Wright said &quot;Ensuring coal plants such as the Campbell Plant are available to operate&quot; during high demand &quot;saves lives&quot; .</p> <blockquote><p>doing everything in our power to mitigate the possibility of power outages</p><p>&mdash; Chris Wright, U.S. Energy Secretary, Trump administration</p></blockquote> <p>Winter grid risks are real. Jim Robb, president of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), said in a statement last week that the power system still faces serious reliability risks in winter . But NERC also found that 99% of the country&#39;s winter generating capacity said it could run in extreme cold .</p> <p>PJM Interconnection runs the regional grid that includes the Eddystone and Wagner units. It expects 182,426 megawatts of working capacity this winter, compared with a forecast peak demand of about 147,500 megawatts . That peak would be a winter record, but supply would still be well above it .</p> <h2>What to watch</h2> <p>The pattern so far: each order lasts about 90 days, and court challenges move far more slowly . The only order a court has ruled on had already expired by the time of the ruling . Meanwhile, the costs keep growing and are being passed toward customers&#39; bills .</p> <p>Watch for two things in the coming days. First, whether the Energy Department issues a seventh Campbell order before Saturday and renews the Wagner and Eddystone orders the following week . Second, whether the appeals court agrees to rehear the case .</p> <p><em>Read the original, with every source linked, at <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/story/order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open-expires-saturday-as-costs-hit-295-million">thegopfiles.com</a>. Republished under The GOP Files' <a href="https://thegopfiles.com/republish">free republishing terms</a>.</em></p> <img src="https://thegopfiles.com/api/rp/order-keeping-michigan-coal-plant-open-expires-saturday-as-costs-hit-295-million.gif" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border:0;width:1px;height:1px">

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Sources

1. Michigan Public (via WMUK), “Emergency order for West Michigan coal plant set to expire again” (2026-11-09). wmuk.org/2026-11-09/emergency-order-for-west-michigan-coal-p
2. U.S. Department of Energy, “2026 DOE 202(c) Orders” (2026-11-06). energy.gov/ceser/2026-doe-202c-orders
3. American Public Power Association, “DOE Seeks Rehearing of Court Decision on Coal Plant's Operations” (2026-10-30). publicpower.org/periodical/article/doe-seeks-rehearing-court
4. Planet Detroit, “Federal court throws out Trump order forcing Michigan coal plant to stay open” (2026-09-11). planetdetroit.org/2026/09/michigan-coal-plant-emergency-orde
5. Michigan Public, “Michigan coal power plant, set to close more than a year ago, is again ordered to keep running” (2026-08-14). michiganpublic.org/politics-government/2026-08-15/michigan-c
6. WWMT, “Nessel challenges another federal order keeping J.H. Campbell coal plant operating” (2026-08-17). wwmt.com/news/local/attorney-general-dana-nessel-federal-ord
7. Energy and Policy Institute, “SRP customers on the hook for Trump order coal costs” (2026-09-24). energyandpolicy.org/srp-customers-pay-trump-coal-costs/
8. Utility Dive, “Most generators prepared for extreme cold, but risks remain: NERC” (2026-11-10). utilitydive.com/news/generators-prepared-extreme-cold-nerc/8

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