Environmental groups are pursuing legal action against emergency orders from the Department of Energy extending the lifespan of an aging oil and gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania.
In a lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups claimed DOE improperly ordered two units of Constellation Energy’s Eddystone Generating Station to remain operational. The 5-decade-old power plant had been slated to be permanently shuttered the day following DOE’s order.
“What the order realistically ends up doing is requiring Pennsylvania families to foot higher energy bills and deal with more air pollution, without any benefit of keeping the plant online,” said Caroline Reiser, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
DOE said the units were still needed due to an energy emergency in parts of the electrical grid served by the regional grid operator, PJM Interconnection, which includes 13 states and the District of Columbia. The decision is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to boost fossil fuels amid growing demand on the electrical grid. President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office.
