Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and a coalition of environmental groups are calling on a federal appeals court to intervene in the Trump administration’s first national order to keep an aging coal plant online, a move they argue is illegal and costly.
Nessel (D) on Thursday filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit asking the court to review the Energy Department’s order for Consumers Energy to continue operating its J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in southwestern Michigan. The Sierra Club, Earthjustice and seven other groups also filed a petition with the same court Thursday.
The requests target an order that Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued May using emergency authorities in the Federal Power Act to force the plant to keep operating. Wright argued that the plant is needed to keep sufficient electricity on the grid. The local utility Consumers Energy planned to shut down the plant at the end of May.
“President Trump has declared under his authority a national energy emergency. The Energy Department and Secretary Wright are ensuring Americans have access to all forms of reliable energy,” said Ben Dietderich, a spokesperson for DOE.
