Key facts
- A federal appeals court ruled the Trump administration's energy department exceeded its authority by forcing the JH Campbell Generating Plant in Michigan to stay open.
- The court found no "emergency" existed under the Federal Power Act to justify the order to keep the plant operating.
- The JH Campbell plant was scheduled to retire last year, but the Trump administration used emergency powers to keep it online.
- Environmental groups and the states of Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota challenged the order.
- The ruling is one of several legal disputes over similar Trump administration orders for coal plants nationwide.
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration order that would have kept a Michigan coal-fired power plant operating past its scheduled retirement. The court found the Department of Energy overstepped its authority under the Federal Power Act, stating there was no "emergency" to justify keeping the 64-year-old JH Campbell Generating Plant online.
The Trump administration had used emergency powers to force several coal plants across the country to remain open, arguing they were necessary for reliable electricity supply. However, environmental groups and states like Michigan, Illinois, and Minnesota challenged these orders, contending they were unlawful, disruptive to planned retirements, and imposed unnecessary costs and pollution.
Appeals court judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel that the section of the Federal Power Act allowing emergency orders is a "narrow, last-resort backstop" and that reversing the Campbell plant's "long and carefully planned retirement" was disruptive. Keeping the plant open beyond its May 2025 retirement has already cost an estimated $259 million, which opponents say will be borne by families and businesses.
Environmental advocates hailed the ruling. Ted Kelly of the Environmental Defense Fund stated the court rejected the administration's effort to force "unreliable, ageing coal plants that are bleeding money and polluting communities to stay online." Sanjay Narayan of the Sierra Club called it a victory for families "paying to keep this old, expensive and dirty power plant online."