Trump officials order Michigan coal power plant must stay open on eve of shutdown

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI — The Trump administration is intervening to keep one of Michigan’s largest remaining coal-burning power plants on temporary life support, weeks before it is slated to go cold and dark for good.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright invoked authority reserved for wartime or periods of electricity demand-related emergencies to order Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell coal plant to “remain available for operation” through the summer months.

Consumers has been gearing up to take it offline as early as June, beginning a process of decommissioning the plant.

The Campbell plant is situated on the shores of Lake Michigan in the middle of Ottawa County.

“Today’s emergency order ensures that Michiganders and the greater Midwest region do not lose critical power generation capability as summer begins and electricity demand regularly reach high levels,” Wright said in a statement.

The Friday, May 23 order lasts 90 days, or until Aug. 21. After that, Consumers can presumably continue plans to decommission the Campbell plant.

He invoked a section of the Federal Power Act and a day-one executive order from President Donald Trump declaring a national “energy emergency,” which critics say has no basis in fact.

The federal announcement cited an assessment that the regional grid serving Michigan could see electric shortfalls during high demand over the warmer months, though Consumers has repeatedly sought to reassure customers that it can maintain reliability without Campbell.

The action flies in the face of Michigan laws requiring utilities adopt cleaner power sources to cut pollution and planet-warming carbon emissions. It also threatens to throw at least a temporary wrench in plans by Consumers, the state‘s largest energy company, to abandon coal entirely with the closure of Campbell this year.

Read more: Consumers Energy offers look inside its last coal-fired power plant before shutdown

“Consumers Energy plans to comply with the 90-day pause from the Department of Energy. We are reviewing the executive action and the overall impact on our company,” said Consumers spokesperson Katie Carey in a statement.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, or MISO, the regional electric grid operator covering Michigan, is named in the order along with Consumers. It directs MISO to “take every step to employ economic dispatch (operation) of the Campbell Plant to minimize cost to ratepayers.”

A spokesperson for MISO didn’t immediately respond to a call and email requesting comment.

The coal plant closure has been in the works for several years.

In 2022, as part of a state-level legal process where utilities create a roadmap for meeting forecasted energy demand, the utility agreed to shut down Campbell years ahead of schedule — a move advocated for and celebrated by environmental groups.

Across the nation, aging coal plants are on a similar trajectory, as they struggle to compete with cheaper sources of energy.

Once dominant, coal now supplies just 16% of American power. In Michigan, it is projected to make up just 10% of electricity generated in the state in 2025, per state figures.

Parts of Michigan, like the Upper Peninsula, have cut coal entirely, making up the gap with renewable energy and cleaner natural gas-powered plants.

But President Donald Trump has sought to prop up coal, a dirty but reliable source of power. In early April, he issued a raft of executive orders meant to excuse coal plants from regulations to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals like mercury and prolong their operations.

“We‘re bringing back an industry that was abandoned,” Trump said. “Pound for pound coal is the single most reliable, durable, secure and powerful form of energy there is on Earth today.”

But even the order regarding the Campbell plant seemed to recognize the environmental issues with coal.

It set a 90-day expiration date “to minimize adverse environmental impacts.”

Trump’s previous orders cite as justification for protecting coal a rise in U.S. electricity demand driven by growth in manufacturing and power-hungry data centers serving artificial intelligence – a trend that has prompted some U.S. utilities to slow power plant closures.

But in Michigan, Consumers has touted the shutdown of the 1,450-megawatt Campbell plant, dating back to the 1960s, as a major milestone in a transition to cleaner, more cost-effective power generation.

“We‘re turning a page in our history books,” said Norm Kapala, the power company’s vice president for generation operations during a September tour of the plant, which sits on 2,000 acres in Port Sheldon Township.

But as it prepared for the shutdown, some residents in the plant‘s backyard began mounting a “Save the Campbell” campaign. They raised the specter of power reliability woes if its baseload electricity was yanked from the grid, citing national assessments warning about the combination of plant closures and surging power demand.

Some appealed directly to the White House. Organizers encouraged the Trump administration to get involved while also rallying local townships to voice opposition, according to Joseph Parnell McCarter, a coordinator with the campaign.

“I think it makes all the sense in the world that it be quickly restarted,” he said.

The worries appeared to gain traction among some local politicians.

In February, Ottawa County leaders formally urged state regulators to delay the plant shutdown, though they stopped short of filing a lawsuit to force the issue.

“Grid stability is a major priority for our county. Numerous business owners are concerned about this issue. I am grateful the administration heard us, studied the issue and acted,” said Ottawa County Commissioner Jacob Bonnema, a Republican, in a Friday statement.

Consumers representatives have countered critics by pointing to the company’s purchase of a 1,200-megawatt gas-powered generating station in Van Buren County in 2023, as well as the ongoing rollout of renewable solar farms and grid-sized batteries.

All will help fill the gap while offering cheaper power, saving Consumers customers $600 million over the coming 20 years, the utility has said.

Regional grid operators tasked with maintaining adequate power reserves have also signed off on the closure plan, according to Consumers representatives.

How the Trump administration’s orders will affect Consumers customers, who ultimately foot the bill for power generation operations through electric rates, wasn’t immediately clear. A spokesperson for state utility regulators with the Michigan Public Service Commission didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Local officials in Port Sheldon Township weren’t given advanced notice. Reached prior to the announcement on Friday, Supervisor Michael Sabatino said the township was planning to host a June open house about the plant closure.

Environmental groups decried the move in a statement, calling it an “illegal abuse” of Trump’s presidential authority and labeled his energy emergency a “sham.”

“Coal is expensive, outdated, and deadly, and all of the relevant parties, including MISO, the grid operator ultimately responsible for keeping the lights on in Michigan, concluded years ago that J.H. Campbell could retire without causing any grid reliability problems,” said Sierra Club Attorney Greg Wannier.

“Consumers Energy is right to finally retire this hugely expensive plant that is costing Michiganders their lives.”

The plant was to be retired under a carefully thought-out plan agreed to by Consumers, regulators and other groups years ago, they noted.

“This last-minute outside interference by the Trump Administration is unnecessary, unreasonable, and would require utility customers to foot the bill for the administration’s ideological agenda,” said Shannon Fisk, an attorney with Earthjustice.

Wright said under Trump’s leadership federal officials are working to secure reliable and affordable energy that is available regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.

“This administration will not sit back and allow dangerous energy subtraction policies threaten the resiliency of our grid and raise electricity prices on American families,” he said.

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MLive Reporter John Tunison contributed reporting.