Michigan coal plant’s future unclear as some wonder if feds will keep it open

• A last-minute Trump administration order keeps the J.H. Campbell coal power plant in west Michigan open this summer, sparking pushback from environmentalists and state officials who say there’s no energy crisis justifying the order
• Michigan ratepayers could face tens of millions in costs, though the utility company is trying to spread that cost to other states that use the power Campbell generates
• The emergency order is set to expire in August but advocates for renewable energy are already preparing for a possible extension

A Trump administration emergency order forcing a west Michigan coal power plant to stay open this summer has drawn close scrutiny from lawmakers, utility companies and energy regulators who see it as a test case for whether coal will be kept alive nationwide.

In late May, the US Department of Energy said Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell plant in Ottawa County must stay open this summer to stave off an energy shortage, mere days before it was scheduled to shut down forever. 

While some Republicans call the move critical for grid reliability and a possible model to save other coal plants, environmental groups warn it could derail Michigan’s clean energy goals.

“It puts Michigan in this unique position of peril where no one is protecting our clean energy future,” said Nora Naughton, spokesperson for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.

“Sometimes, the right thing is hard, but when you’re trying to protect your country and you have national security interests at play, you need to do what’s right for the citizens and for the country no matter what,” said Ottawa County Commissioner Joe Moss, who supports the plant staying open. 

The Michigan Public Service Commission, in charge of regulating utilities in the state, denies any kind of energy emergency in Michigan or on the regional grid it’s a part of.

“We currently produce more energy in Michigan than needed,” commission Chair Dan Scripps said in a statement at the time of the federal order. 

For now, Campbell is scheduled to run through Aug. 21, when the 90-day order expires. But, with the Department of Energy citing an emergency that most state officials deny exists, some worry the order could be extended or repeated elsewhere.

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Before the order, coal was on a steady decline in Michigan, with all the state’s remaining coal-fired plants slated to close by 2032. State regulators declined to say how the emergency order could impact plans to move to 100% clean energy by 2040. 

A surprise order

In 2022, state regulators and the regional grid operator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, authorized Consumers Energy to close the Campbell plant years ahead of schedule in a move expected to save ratepayers $600 million as coal became less profitable.

But just days before its scheduled May 21 shutdown, the Department of Energy ordered the plant to stay open for 90 days because of an energy emergency, citing a North American Electric Reliability Corporation, or NERC, report warning of possible summer energy shortfalls in the MISO grid.

Weeks later, however, NERC revised its assessment, saying it understated the regional grid’s available resources because of faulty data it had received from MISO. Consequently, NERC shifted MISO from “high risk” of generation shortfall to “elevated risk” for the summer.

Ten other North American grids face similar “elevated” risks — meaning shortfalls are only likely in extreme weather, according to NERC.

Even before the revision, critics of the emergency order argued that NERC’s assessment alone wasn’t enough to declare an energy crisis.

“This was a fabricated emergency to prop up the coal industry,” said Dennis Wamsted, of the pro-renewables Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Beyond the NERC report, however, state Rep. Dave Prestin, R-Cedar River, pointed to capacity prices — payments made to power plants ahead of time to ensure they’re ready and available to produce electricity when needed — skyrocketing ahead of this summer as proof of a tight energy budget.

“That is a clear indication that … we're not living in the land of abundance,” Prestin said.

Who’s paying?

Bringing the Campbell plant back up to speed after the utility and its workers had spent years preparing for the plant’s closure meant Consumers needed to buy unexpected, higher-cost coal shipments and bring back workers expecting to move to other positions.

Michigan ratepayers will ultimately bear that cost, though they might not be alone.

While the total price tag of keeping the plant open isn’t clear yet, Scripps of the Public Service Commission told CNN that it could reach tens of millions of dollars. Consumers Energy has asked federal regulators to spread that cost across the broader MISO grid — which include 14 other states and two Canadian provinces.

“We expect the cost of operating the plant should be shared by customers across the north and central MISO region — not borne solely by Consumers Energy customers,” a spokesperson for the utility company told Bridge.

However, other interest groups in other states like the Citizens Utility Board of Illinois have urged MISO not to spread out that cost, arguing in comments to federal regulators that they shouldn’t pay for a power plant that doesn’t benefit them.

Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer with the Michigan Environmental Council, said it’s a frustrating reversal, since saving ratepayers money was a key reason the plant was set to close in the first place.

"It's really unfortunate that it's going to be Michiganders who are left holding the bag for what is a very avoidable cost,” Jameson said.

What’s next?

The Department of Energy can renew its emergency order keeping Campbell running at any time — potentially indefinitely — though the aging facility may not last much longer because maintenance was put off in anticipation of its closure.

Still, the Sierra Club is preparing for the possibility the plant could stay open. It and other environmental groups on June 18 filed a request for rehearing, which the department must respond to within 30 days.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel similarly challenged the order on similar grounds, claiming that the order exceeds the authority granted to the Department of Energy and that the department failed to minimize the environmental impacts of the plant’s continued operation.

While the federal government could run out the clock on responding until just a few weeks remain on the order, Naughton said the Sierra Club is expecting their challenge to apply to the yet-to-be renewed order.

“There just is no room at this point with anything with the Trump administration to wait and see,” she added.

But until the Department of Energy announces that extension — if it does — plant workers and Consumers Energy are stuck waiting to see what happens next.

It’s a level of uncertainty that slightly irks state Rep. Greg VanWoerkom, R-Norton Shores, who represents the area around the Campbell plant. Workers had already been planning to switch jobs or retire before the plant’s closure, and now they’re stuck waiting to see if they’ll be hired back long-term.

“The workers need to know with more certainty,” he said, about where or if they’ll be working in a few months.

For all the legal turmoil and controversy surrounding the Campbell order, Prestin said, its “fate is sealed.” 

His attention is now turned to the possibility of saving DTE’s Monroe power plant, one of the largest coal-fired plants in the nation, through legislation that could keep it online “due to strategic necessity” or by MISO mandating the plant stay open.

“It’s state-of-the-art clean coal,” Prestin said. “It’s coal I believe we could engage in carbon capture with as the technology continues to evolve.”

The Department of Energy and DTE did not respond to questions about whether a similar emergency order would be issued for Monroe. A spokesperson for the Michigan Public Service Commission said it wasn’t aware of any plan to keep Monroe open.