Cost of the Trump Administration’s Sham Emergency Orders to Force a Michigan Coal Power Plant to Operate Exceed $80 million

Cost of the Trump Administration's Sham Emergency Orders to Force a Michigan Coal Power Plant to Operate Exceed $80 million

Earthjustice and public advocacy groups are challenging the DOE's unlawful emergency orders in court

Contacts

Kathryn McGrath, [email protected]

In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumers Energy reported the costs of complying with the Department of Energy's (DOE) emergency orders to operate the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant through September 30 as $80 million. (See page 62 of the filing.) The cost of operating the plant is currently set to be paid by ratepayers in Michigan and 10 other states (IL, IN, IA, KY, MN, MO, MT, ND, SD, and WI).

The DOE has issued two 90-day orders so far forcing the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in Michigan to operate past its planned retirement date. Earthjustice and public advocacy groups are challenging the DOE's orders in court, petitioning the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for review.

"The Department of Energy's unlawful orders to prevent Campbell's retirement are extremely expensive," said Michael Lenoff, Earthjustice Senior Attorney. "Forcing this unnecessary coal plant to keep operating is bilking consumers for the benefit of the coal industry. Earthjustice is in court now to stop the administration from harming consumers, trampling markets, and unlawfully usurping the authority of states and regulators to make decisions in the public interest."

From May 23 through September 30, the net costs imposed by the Department of Energy's emergency orders total $80 million, an average of more than $615,000 per day. Consumers Energy explains that its costs were actually significantly higher than $80 million-totaling $164 million-but that the utility was able to offset a portion of those costs through $84 million of revenue it earned from selling power in MISO.

In its filing, Consumers Energy breaks down the costs into two periods. The first period, May 23 through August 20, corresponds to the Department of Energy's first emergency order. The second period, August 21 through September 30, corresponds to a portion of the second emergency order. (The second emergency order runs to November 19. The net costs for the remainder of the second emergency order should be included in Consumers Energy's next quarterly filing to the SEC, due to be released at the end of January 2026.)

It is important to recognize that the revenues earned by J. H. Campbell ultimately come from consumers as well.

On an earnings call with financial analysts, the CEO of CMS Energy, the parent company of Consumers Energy said, "We continue to see orders from the Department of Energy through the Federal Power Act. We expect those to continue for the long term and we're prepared to continue to operate the plant and comply with those orders."

Data released today by the U.S. EPA show that the three coal-fired units at Campbell were not reliably producing power during much of the last three months. This is consistent with the units' history of outages due to broken parts and other problems. (See pages 30 to 32 here.) Unit 1 did not produce power on 25 of the 92 days from July through September, equating to 27% of those days. Unit 2 was not producing power on 74 of those 92 days (80%), while Unit 3 was not producing power on 29 of those 92 days (32%).

The Campbell plant was not needed this summer. Even on the day of highest peak demand, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator had an unused surplus of resources greater than ten times the power provided by Campbell. (See pages 22 to 24 here.)

In preparation for the retirement of the aging coal power plant, Consumers Energy secured more than adequate replacement power. Utility customers were already paying for more than enough power to keep the lights on when the DOE issued the first sham emergency order to force the coal plant to continue operating just days before it was to retire.

Additional Resources

• The Trump Administration Forces Power Plants to Continue Burning Fossil Fuels
• Challenge to the Latest Illegal Extension of J.H. Campbell Coal Plant
• Motion to Intervene and Request for Rehearing of Order No. 202-25-3, Campbell Power Plant
• About the Clean Energy Program

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