Department of Energy extends delay of Campbell coal plant's closure another 90 days

PORT SHELDON TWP. — U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has extended an emergency order, delaying again the long-planned closing of the coal-fired J.H. Campbell plant in Port Sheldon Township until at least Nov. 19.

The new order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the Campbell plant "remains available for operation, minimizing any potential generation shortfall that could lead to unnecessary power outages," effective Aug. 21 through Nov. 19.

Wright's first order, issued May 23, expired on Aug. 20.

The move came after two separate protests were organized in Ottawa County last week.

On Aug. 12, a group of lawmakers, health professionals and other officials held a press conference in the shadow of the Campbell plant, calling on federal officials to withdraw Wright's May 23 order that exercises wartime powers to force Consumers Energy, which owns the plant, to keep it available for operation for 90 days.

"We're here today because in 2024 Donald Trump made a deal with the fossil fuel industry: 'You give me a billion dollars to prop up my campaign, and I will prop up your industry,'" said state Rep. Stephen Wooden, D-81, whose district includes the northeast portion of Grand Rapids.

"And that's why coal plants that were scheduled to close have been forced to stay open, costing Michigan rate payers a million dollars a day, at a time when we are still dealing with a cost-of-living crisis, when a trade war is costing the average Michigan family $2,500 a year," he said.

"We are standing here today to stand up to the Trump Administration to tell them, 'Get this coal plant shut down, to re-shut it down, to listen to local folks, to listen to Michiganders, to listen to the utilities that have already scheduled this closure, instead of propping up a coal plant that doesn't need to stay open."

On Aug. 15, a second protest of about 100 people marched from downtown Holland's Window on the Waterfront to U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga's Holland office, demanding that the congressman stop supporting the Trump Administration's interference with the plant's forced continuance of operations.

"This is a clear example of how the Trump Administration doesn't care about what the constituents want. This is why we're out here protesting," said Indigo Umlor, of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, which organized the protest along with the Sierra Club and other local activist groups. "We need to show Bill Huizenga and the rest of the MAGA party that we don't support their actions. As a matter of fact, we support our Earth."

Lisa Wozniak, executive director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said the extension issued Tuesday will guarantee rate hikes for residents “at a time when energy costs are skyrocketing."

"The Trump administration is guaranteeing rate hikes for Michiganders by extending the life of this expensive, outdated Campbell Coal plant,” Wozniak said in a prepared statement. “Closing the coal plant was expected to save Michigan ratepayers $600 million by 2040.  Now, we’re on the hook for tens of millions of dollars in costs because of this action. 

"Every day it remains open means more pollution in our air and higher energy costs for Michigan families. Our bills are already too high, and Trump’s reckless energy policies are making it worse,” she said.

How we got here

The Campbell plant has become the epicenter of a legal battle between the U.S. Department of Energy and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

The plant, operating since 1962, was originally scheduled to close partially in 2030 and wholly in 2040. But the utility announced in 2021 that it was moving the plan up by 15 years for an operations end date of May 31, 2025.

Consumers has said closing the plant was expected to save Michigan ratepayers $600 million by 2040.

Read More: Consumers Energy reaches agreement to close Campbell plant, end utility's coal use by 2025

The utility was seeking to end coal use altogether by 2025 as part of its goal to achieve carbon neutrality.

On May 23, Wright issued the first federal order to ensure that the 1,560 megawatt plant "[remain] available for operation, minimizing any potential capacity shortfall that could lead to unnecessary power outages."

The Energy Department said the emergency order is authorized by Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act and is in accordance with President Trump’s Executive Order: Declaring a National Energy Emergency to ensure that power generation availability in the region does not “dip below 2024 capacity levels.”

The order came just eight days before the plant was scheduled to shut down.

Wright said the move was intended “to minimize the risk of blackouts and address critical grid security issues in the Midwestern region of the United States ahead of the high electricity demand expected this summer.”

“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. With President Trump’s leadership, the Energy Department is hard at work securing the American people access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy that powers their lives, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining."

In June, Nessel — along with a collective group of public interest organizations, Minnesota and Illinois, Maryland Office of People’s Counsel, and the Organization of Midcontinent Independent System Operator States — challenged the DOE's order, arguing that the move will force customers to absorb exorbitant costs.

Read More: AG Nessel takes challenge to DOE's order to keep Campbell plant open to Court of Appeals

Nessel filed a request for rehearing with the DOE, challenging what she described as an "arbitrary and illegal order seeking to stop the planned retirement of Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan, under the pretense of a fabricated energy emergency."

Read More: Nessel challenges order to keep J.H. Campbell Plant open as energy experts predict price hikes

She said the order "will burden Michigan utility customers with unnecessary costs and needless additional pollution from the 60-year-old Ottawa County coal plant that was scheduled to close May 31."

When the DOE didn't respond to Nessel's request within 21 days, she filed a petition for review July 24 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., Circuit, challenging the U.S. Department of Energy's order, claiming the "arbitrary and illegal" move forced the continued operation of the plant "under the pretense of a fabricated energy emergency."

“This unprecedented order by the Department of Energy declares an emergency without evidence, completely ignores state and federal regulators that approved the plant’s retirement, and will potentially put enormous costs onto utility customers who receive no real benefit,” Nessel said. “I will continue to fight to protect Michigan customers from unreasonable costs imposed by the federal government.” 

Last month, Nessel also filed a pleading before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in response to Consumers’ request to recover the costs of running the Campbell plant beyond its initial retirement date. That proceeding is still ongoing. 

Nessel issued the following statement Thursday:

“This unlawful order, issued under the guise of a manufactured, imaginary energy emergency, will force Michigan ratepayers — and those across the Midwest — to shoulder huge, unnecessary costs. Consumers Energy has already reported spending $29 million in just the first 38 days of running the J.H. Campbell plant, and those completely unnecessary costs will ultimately be passed on to families.

“There is no energy emergency justifying these orders and the president and his administration have no right to insist it remain operational against the will of the people of this state, or Consumers Energy. My office has taken multiple legal and administrative steps to challenge the Department of Energy’s first order and will continue to fight this latest one to protect ratepayers from footing the bill for a fake emergency.”

Katie Carey, director of media relations for Consumers, said Tuesday that the utility is continuing to comply with the DOE order and has requested "the timely recovery of costs associated with plant operations."

"We expect FERC will take timely action on our request. Our FERC filing from Friday, June 6, requests approval of a mechanism to recover and allocate those costs through MISO. 

Local politics involved

In February, the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution in a 10-1 vote urging a delay in the plant’s closure pending a second look by state regulators; however, they stopped short April 22 of approving a resolution that would have brought litigation to prevent the closure altogether. 

At the time, the 10 Republicans on the board cited concerns over reports from energy watchdog agencies that warned of possible brownouts and blackouts in summer 2025 if more generating facilities were taken offline.

Board Vice Chair Josh Brugger, who voted in favor of the board's May resolution, said earlier this week that commissioners merely intended to protect county residents from potential grid instability.

"My intention was that we were deferring to the state of Michigan's authority and for them to weigh in and provide a second opinion on whether it should or should not be closed. Like, full stop right there," he said Tuesday.

Board Chair John Teeples echoed his colleague's comment.

"The resolution was to ask the [MPSC] to relook at this issue, in light of the concern that the grid was in jeopardy, at risk. That's all it was, and that's where it ended, even though other people wanted to go beyond that," Teeples said Tuesday.

"Some wanted to start a lawsuit, which I thought was absolutely ridiculous and a waste of taxpayer dollars without any foresight about what it could mean," he said. "So, all we were doing was raising the flag and that was it. That's the extent. From my perspective, the county should go no more, no less. There's nothing wrong with asking our elected officials or regulators to make sure you've got your T's crossed, your I's, dotted. That's all this was, and that's where it should stay."

What's the cost?

In a June 3 statement, a Consumers spokesperson said the company is currently complying with the order.

"We are currently in compliance with the order, have arranged for new shipments of coal, some of which arrived last week, and will continuously operate the Campbell Plant," Trisha Bloembergen, West Michigan media relations specialist, said in a June 3 email. "We are still determining the overall cost, but want to ensure those costs are shared across MISO and not all on Consumers Energy customers."

Katie Carey, director of media relations for Consumers, said Tuesday that the utility is continuing to comply with the DOE order and has requested "the timely recovery of costs associated with plant operations."

"We expect FERC will take timely action on our request. Our FERC filing from Friday, June 6, requests approval of a mechanism to recover and allocate those costs through MISO. 

Although the DOE ordered Consumers to keep the Campbell "available" for energy generation, the utility hasn't publicly released whether the plant is currently generating power.

Carey said Aug. 12 that the utility's costs will "depend on a number of factors, including offsetting revenue from plant operations, and are still being determined."

"The cost of operating the plant will be shared by customers across the north and central MISO region, consistent with the DOE order," she said. "We will continue to work with MISO and with federal and state regulators to ensure compliance with the order and appropriate cost recovery."

Generating power at the Campbell plant is likely to be costly for ratepayers, experts from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis wrote June 5.

Campbell Units 1 and 2, which are 63 and 58 years old, respectively, were already increasingly uncompetitive in the MISO market, meaning it cost more to generate electricity than what it could be sold for, said energy data analysts Seth Feaster and Dennis Wamsted.

According to data filed by Consumers at FERC, the operation and maintenance costs for the two units totaled $45.80 per megawatt-hour (MWh) in 2023 (the most recent data available). That puts both units in the red almost all the time in MISO: S&P data shows that the monthly around-the-clock price at the Michigan hub has been above $40/MWh just twice in the past two years, and never during the summer.

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"In other words, the plant would lose money on virtually every MWh generated if past prices hold this summer, costs that could add up to many more millions of dollars if the units at Campbell are run for any substantial amount of time," Feaster and Wamsted said.

Beyond operational costs, there are fuel and staffing costs as well.

"Coal itself has gotten more expensive," said Frank Rambo, executive director at Horizon Climate Initiative, a nonprofit organization that works to use cost-saving energy market reforms to address the causes and impacts of climate change. 

"That fleet has gotten more expensive to run. It's coal, which used to be synonymous with cheap power. It's now among the most expensive power ... and then the excess costs that are incurred because they're running more expensive resources.

Ultimately, it will be residents who foot the bill, Rambo said.

"They run those coal plants, and then they turn around, go to their commissions and recover those excess costs from their customers," he said.

— Sarah Leach is the executive editor of the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at sleach@ottawanewsnetwork.org. Follow her on Twitter @ONNLeach.