"State regulators, consumer advocates, and environmental groups say the Department of Energy is acting illegally in forcing aging, costly power plants to stay open."
"In late spring, the Department of Energy ordered two aging and costly fossil-fueled power plants that were on the verge of shutting down to stay open. The agency claimed that the moves were necessary to prevent the power grid from collapsing — and that it has the power to force the plants to stay open even if the utilities, state regulators, and grid operators managing them say that no such emergency exists.
More of these orders could be on the way. The DOE published a report this week, in response to one of the “Beautiful Clean Coal” executive orders issued by President Donald Trump in April, that lays out the case for Energy Secretary Chris Wright, a former gas industry executive who has denied there is a climate change crisis, to demand that more fossil-fueled plants remain open past their scheduled closures.
But state regulators, regional grid operators, environmental groups, and consumer groups are pushing back on the notion that the grids in question even need these interventions — and are challenging the legality of the DOE’s stay-open orders.
Last month, state utility regulators and environmental groups filed rehearing requests with the DOE, demanding that it reconsider emergency orders to force the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan and the Eddystone oil and gas-burning plant in Pennsylvania to stay open through the summer."
Jeff St. John reports for Canary Media July 10, 2025.
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