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US Energy Secretary Renews Order to Keep Michigan Coal Power Plant Running

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The US Department of Energy said on Monday that Energy Secretary Chris Wright has renewed a previously-issued emergency order to prevent a coal-fired power plant in Michigan from ceasing operations.

The JH Campbell plant in West Olive, Michigan, owned by CMS Energy (CMS) unit Consumers Energy, was slated to shutdown on May 31 last year, according to a statement from the Department.

The plant was originally instructed on May 23, one week before that, to keep operating via an emergency order from Wright, with subsequent extensions issued throughout 2025 and early 2026.

The new emergency order will keep the plant operating through Aug. 16. The order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the plant remains available to operate

The order has been issued to "address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest heading into the summer months," the statement said.

In 2025, more than 17 GW of coal-powered electricity generation was prevented from shutting down by the Trump administration, it added.

Separately, the DOE on Monday approved the deployment of backup generation resources to help limit blackouts in the Mid-Atlantic region resulting from a heatwave and an increase in elevated transmission and generation outages linked to seasonal maintenance.

The emergency order, which follows a request from PJM Interconnection on May 17, allows the regional transmission organization to deploy backup generation resources at data centers and other major facilities.

The order also authorizes PJM to tap into its transmission owners and electric distribution companies to implement the order as needed, the department said in a separate statement.

The order is effective from Monday through Wednesday.

Over 35-gigawatts of unused backup generation remains available nationwide, according to the statement.

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