3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 11
Summary
A federal appeals court on Friday struck down the Trump administration’s order forcing the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Michigan, to keep operating beyond its planned May 2025 retirement.
A three-judge D.C. Circuit panel said the Energy Department overstepped by using Federal Power Act emergency powers for a prolonged intervention rather than a short-term crisis response.
The administration had renewed the plant’s operating order every 90 days for more than a year, citing an “energy emergency” to keep the aging coal-burning facility online.
Michigan sued over the order, joined by Illinois, Minnesota and environmental groups, while Judge Cornelia Pillard said states—not Washington—should manage generation unless they cannot or will not act.
The ruling undercuts a broader Trump effort to prop up coal through emergency orders, a tool previous administrations used only briefly during extreme weather events.