Court blocks Trump from forcing open a dead coal plant that no one wants open

A federal appeals court has blocked the Department of Energy from forcing a closed coal plant in Michigan to stay open. The J.H. Campbell plant was supposed to retire on May 17, 2025, but the DOE issued an "emergency order" keeping it running anyway, citing grid reliability. The court ruled there was no real emergency and struck down the order. By the time of the ruling, the plant had been kept open for 468 days past its planned shutdown, at a cost of more than $259 million to ratepayers — the customers who pay for electricity in that region.

This case is one of seven similar orders the DOE has issued to keep old coal and one oil-and-gas plant running around the country, even though the plant owners themselves often don't want them open. Michigan, Minnesota, and Illinois, along with several environmental groups, sued over the Campbell order and won. Because the other six plants are tied up in similar lawsuits using the same legal arguments, this ruling could set the stage for those orders to be overturned too. Total costs tied to these forced-open coal plants have reportedly topped $547 million so far.

For homeowners, this doesn't require any action, but it's worth knowing about if you've noticed above-average charges on your electric bill tied to regional power costs. These orders have been funded through ratepayer charges, meaning customers in affected states have been covering costs for plants that produce little or no usable power. If courts continue striking these orders down, that cost pressure could ease over time.