Emergency Coal Plant Orders Generate Over $300 Million in Costs, Limited Benefits, IEEFA Says
Coal plant emergency orders have cost US utilities over $300 million so far while delivering limited operational benefits, according to an analysis by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis on Wednesday.The analysis found that those costs have risen over the past year under the administration's effort to prevent coal plant closures and are increasing by over $30 million per month.The Department of Energy has issued over 20 emergency orders under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, a provision intended for events such as wars or energy shortages, the analysis added.Energy Secretary Chris Wright has used the 90-day directives largely to keep aging and often uneconomic coal units available, even as utilities, regulators and grid operators dispute the existence of power emergencies.Utilities typically retire plants through long-term planning designed to reduce costs and shift generation toward more efficient and reliable resources, the analysis said.DOE emergency orders have forced utilities to spend heavily on repairs to aging coal plants that were already scheduled to close, resulting in high costs for ratepayers while delivering little improvement in reliability or long-term benefits.Consumers Energy's 1,331-megawatt J.H. Campbell facility in Michigan has generated the largest expense, costing at least $185 million through March and potentially another $90 million by Aug. 16.Plant owners continue to incur maintenance, fuel storage, pollution-control, staffing, tax and compliance expenses even when many of the affected units rarely produce electricity, according to IEEFA.TransAlta reported $19.9 million in fixed costs during the first three-month order covering its Centralia facility, while the analysis estimated those costs reached $33.1 million through mid-May.Centralia appears to have remained idle since December. TransAlta initially estimated generation costs at $83.44 per megawatt-hour and later at $113.49/MWh, well above the Northwest wholesale average of $27.60/MWh, IEEFA added.CenterPoint Energy (CNP) told the Department of Energy that the 90 MW F.B. Culley Unit 2 operated fully for only five of its first 48 days under an emergency order and still required $16.5 million to $20.5 million in repairs, IEEFA said.As of June 5, the Department of Energy had issued 22 emergency orders covering eight power plants and 12 generating units, including Stanton Unit 1 in Florida, a 453-megawatt unit that owners planned to place into cold shutdown at the end of May.Operational issues extend across several facilities. NIPSCO's Schahfer Unit 18 and Colorado's 45-year-old Craig Unit 1 remained largely inactive despite orders requiring them to stay available, according to the analysis.Coal consumption under the orders totaled 3.03 million tons from June 2025 through March 2026, with just one plant, J.H. Campbell, accounting for 93% of that volume. The total represented just 0.86% of the 350 million tons consumed by US power plants during the same period.Price: $43.06, Change: $+0.32, Percent Change: +0.75%