Trump’s DOE keeps forcing coal plants to stay open. Here’s the latest.

The Trump administration has used federal emergency powers to force seven old power plants, mostly coal, to keep running past their planned retirement dates, arguing they're needed to keep the electric grid reliable. State regulators, utilities, and grid operators had already decided these plants were unnecessary and had spent years planning to close them. Some of the plants are broken or sitting unused because the grid doesn't actually need their power. The plants affected so far are in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana (two plants), Washington state, Colorado, and Florida. Democratic state attorneys general and environmental groups have filed lawsuits challenging several of these orders, and in at least one case, a Republican attorney general and a utility in Kentucky are also suing, arguing customers there shouldn't have to pay for keeping a Pennsylvania plant online.

The costs are real and are likely to land on ordinary electric customers. The running total for these orders is roughly $430 million as of early August 2026. In Colorado, keeping one plant open past its retirement date could cost up to $150 million for a single year. In Florida, one estimate suggests propping up a nearly 40-year-old coal unit could add about $21 a month to electric bills for customers of the municipal utility that owns it.

More closures are scheduled between now and the end of Trump's term, including coal units in Colorado and Minnesota set to retire this December. Whether those retirements actually happen may depend on whether the administration issues new stay-open orders, something that seems likely given the pattern so far. Homeowners served by utilities involved in these disputes may eventually see the costs show up on their electric bills.