The Trump administration is using emergency authorities to force the continued operation of a coal-fired power plant in Michigan, despite its yearslong, planned closure, raising questions about how far President Donald Trump will go to keep the industry afloat.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright late Wednesday ordered the J.H. Campbell plant in southeastern Michigan to stay online through Nov. 19, marking the second time the department has invoked the Federal Power Authority to keep the plant operating. The agency in May first demanded the plant stay online through most of August.
Wright argued the 63-year-old coal plant is critical to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, and is used “regularly during periods of high energy demand and low levels of intermittent energy production.” But the secretary also said MISO’s resource adequacy problems are “not limited to the summer months,” raising the potential for broader DOE actions to keep other facilities online.
“The United States continues to face an energy emergency, with some regions experiencing more capacity constraints than others,” Wright said in a statement. “With electricity demand increasing, we must put an end to the dangerous energy subtraction policies embraced by politicians for too long.
