Court Overturns DOE Order Forcing Michigan Coal Plant to Stay Open

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of the Michigan Attorney General’s office and environmental groups, including NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), by overturning the Department of Energy’s “emergency” order that sought to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant operating despite state and utility plans to retire it.

Following is reaction from Derrell Slaughter, Michigan policy director, Climate & Energy, at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

“Michiganders shouldn't have been saddled with artificially high energy bills or forced to deal with toxic air pollution over a fabricated ‘emergency.’ The Campbell coal plant is out of date, costs more to operate than other electricity generation options, and is one of the worst polluters in the state.  Today's federal court ruling has correctly rejected the Trump administration's illegal efforts to force the Campbell plant to continue to operate."

Background:

On May 23, 2025, the DOE issued an emergency order forcing the J.H. Campbell power plant to remain operational past its long-planned May 31 expiration date. The order illegally invoked emergency powers to upend the process authorized by Congress that governs decision-making about the electricity grid’s mix of generation resources. Nine public advocacy groups, including NRDC, led by the Sierra Club and Earthjustice, filed a petition for review at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in response to the DOE's unlawful and unreasonable extension of the J.H. Campbell coal plant, and the department’s denial of the groups’ earlier request for rehearing on the department’s emergency order.

For more background: Trump Administration’s DOE Is Forcing Coal Plants to Stay Open. Michigan Is the First Target.

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).