In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the Energy Department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old J.H. Campbell plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region and used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states — Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota — went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with the states and the groups, saying there was no real emergency under the law.

The section of the Federal Power Act that allows emergency orders “is essentially a narrow, last-resort backstop," Appeals Court Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote for a unanimous three-judge panel.

By reversing the Campbell plant's “long and carefully planned retirement ... the results are disruptive," Pillard wrote. There was “no ‘emergency’ within the meaning” of the statute, she added.

The Michigan case is one of several legal disputes that have emerged across the country as the Trump administration uses emergency powers to force a half-dozen coal-fired plants from closing. The orders are raising ratepayer bills, critics say, and adding air and water pollution that could otherwise have been avoided.

Keeping the Michigan plant open cost at least $135 million in 2025 alone, officials said.

Ted Kelly, U.S. clean energy director at the Environmental Defense Fund, said the court ruling rejected the Trump administration’s nationwide effort to force “unreliable, aging coal plants that are bleeding money and polluting communities to stay online.”

The Energy Department's “unlawful actions attempted to make families and businesses in the Midwest wastefully pay hundreds of millions of dollars for a coal plant that should have been shut down over a year ago,” Kelly said Friday. The Campbell plant and other aging sites are “incredibly expensive, dangerous to our health and break down frequently,” he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Energy issued a statement that included unsubstantiated claims.

"The Energy Department's emergency orders, including at Campbell, prevented blackouts and likely saved hundreds of lives during peak capacity events this past year. The Energy Department’s emergency orders were essential for keeping the lights on during Winter Storm Fern," the spokesperson said.

The statement continued, "At the peak of the storm, coal generation in impacted regions increased 25% compared to the same time last year. In Michigan, the J.H. Campbell Coal Plant in Michigan operated at over 650 MW every day between January 21-February 1. Rest assured, the Department of Energy will continue to protect and defend energy security for all Americans."

Michael Lenoff, an attorney with Earth Justice, one of the groups that sued the Energy Department on the issue, said the department's claims about prevented blackouts and saved lives are demonstrably false, based on data from the Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator – the regional electric grid that includes Michigan.

"At the most grid-stressed times during Winter Storm Fern, Summer 2025, and Summer 2026, MISO had unused available excess generation far exceeding the amount of power being supplied by the coal plants subject to [DOE] orders," he said.

Lenoff also disputed that keeping Campbell operational is necessary for grid reliability. In fact, it's the opposite, he said.

"Campbell’s output since the orders began on May 23, 2025, demonstrates its unreliability and the dangers to grid reliability of relying on old coal plants. For instance, on June 23, 2025, the grid’s most stressed day that summer, Campbell Unit 1 suddenly dropped offline in the middle of the day. Meanwhile, Campbell Unit 2 was already offline that day, had been offline since May 23, and has barely been able to stay online during the entire term of the 202(c) orders."

The Department of Energy did not say if it will appeal the vacating of its original order to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There is another factor that could keep the dispute from being resolved for some time. The Court of Appeals order applies only to the DOE's first order in the Campbell plant case. Subsequent orders – the most recent of which was issued less than a month ago – have renewed the directive that Consumers Energy keep the plant running. Lenoff said if the DOE does not rescind those orders, his and other groups will sue again.

In a statement, Consumers said the plant is still running while it reviews the court ruling.

"While that happens, we are continuing to comply with the current 90-day Department of Energy order that keeps the Campbell plant operating. Ultimately, we will follow the law and work to ensure that everyone who benefits from power from the Campbell plant across the Midwest pays their fair share."

Editor's note: Consumers Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.