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Trump administration extends order to keep Michigan coal plant open

Consumers Energy JH Campbell power plant was originally scheduled to close at the end of May. Photo courtesy of Consumers Energy.

by Kelly House, Bridge Michigan

The Trump administration has extended its order forcing Consumers Energy to keep a Michigan coal plant open past its planned retirement date.

The late-night order, which came hours before an earlier version was set to expire, orders Consumers Energy to keep the JH Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive open until Nov. 19.

The plant was originally scheduled to close at the end of May, a decision that had been in the works for years and was approved by state and regional energy regulators.

Consumers, which had already purchased a natural gas plant and secured other sources of electricity to offset the lost power, said the switch to cheaper power sources would save customers $600 million.

But the US Department of Energy issued an emergency order typically reserved for natural disasters to keep the 1,560-megawatt coal plant open for 90 days, citing a desire to “minimize the risk of blackouts” during peak summer energy demand within the regional Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which serves Michigan and several neighboring states.

In an issued Wednesday night, Energy Secretary Chris Wright wrote that “the summer season has not yet ended, and the production of electricity from the Campbell Plant will continue to be a critical asset to maintain reliability in MISO this summer.”

He cited US Environmental Protection Agency data showing the plant operated at 61% of capacity in June. Bridge was not able to immediately verify the accuracy of that data.

“With electricity demand increasing, we must put an end to the dangerous energy subtraction policies embraced by politicians for too long,” Wright said in a statement.

Consumers Energy spokesperson Katie Carey said the utility will comply with the order.

State and regional energy regulators have expressed no concerns about imminent energy shortages in Michigan or regionally. The chair of the Michigan Public Service Commission, which regulates the state energy sector, called Wednesday order “a justification in search of a problem” and panned the Trump administration for replacing meticulously-researched grid planning efforts with a series of temporary orders issued without warning.

Michigan requires utilities to demonstrate that they have sufficient generating capacity to meet customers’ needs for the next four years and file long-term plans that look 20 years into the future.

“Put simply,” Scripps said, “we don’t plan the grid 90 days at a time.”

Longer-term, some analysts are concerned about rising energy demand as big tech companies install energy-hungry data centers and more Americans power their cars with electricity rather than gas.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is , arguing the administration is faking an emergency to justify its favoritism toward expensive, climate-polluting coal.

“The result of this overreach will be unnecessary costs imposed on already-overburdened ratepayers, needless pollution emitted into Michigan and its neighboring states, and an unprecedented intrusion into the authority of states and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate the resource adequacy of our electric grid,” Nessel wrote in a filing with the US Department of Energy.

Operating the plant beyond its planned retirement had cost Consumers , according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Federal energy regulators have Consumers’ request to spread costs tied to the forced reopening out across Michigan and 10 other states in the regional grid.

Carey, the Consumers spokesperson, declined to say how high costs have risen since June.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brandon Morris, spokesperson for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, said the group April , an exercise meant to forecast power needs over the ensuing year, indicated “adequate resources to meet anticipated demand.”

Michigan environmentalists and ratepayer advocates have expressed concerns about rising utility costs and worsening pollution as they rally against the reopening.

“We’re keeping something online that we don’t need, that is overly expensive and that we’ve already managed to replace,” said Laura Sherman, president of the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council. “It’s completely unnecessary.”

The battle comes as the Trump administration takes broad and unprecedented actions to steer the nation grid away from clean energy and toward fossil fuels including coal, which is considered among the most expensive and dirtiest fuels available. Beyond forcing Campbell to stay open, Trump announced via social media Wednesday that his administration new wind or solar projects.

Alleging that renewables are driving up energy prices, he called them “THE SCAM OF THE CENTURY!”

The US government fossil fuels push comes as leading climate scientists warn that society has mere years to stop emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere if it hopes to avoid key climate “tipping points.”

Already, climate change is and causing in warmer climates, supercharging wildfires like the ones in Canada that repeatedly this summer and fueling megastorms that and flood homes.

Michigan law requires the state utilities to achieve 100% “clean” energy by 2040. But experts have told Bridge Michigan that the Trump administration moves to lock in fossil fuel use will compliance with that law.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a .

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.