AG Nessel Challenges DOE’s Third Order Mandating Continued Operation of Consumers Energy Coal-Powered Electric Plant

LANSING – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has filed a Request for Rehearing (PDF) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) challenging DOE’s third 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. The filing challenges DOE’s order on its inability to show an actual emergency, as well as for several other violations of DOE’s authority under the Federal Power Act, which grants DOE’s emergency powers.

“Nearly seven months into this fabricated emergency, what is now clear is that DOE will continue issuing these unlawful orders unless the courts intervene,” Nessel said. “My office has filed to halt these arbitrary orders each time, and we will continue to challenge them to protect Michigan ratepayers. These actions by DOE ignore careful planning, disregard regulatory approvals, and serve no purpose other than to drive up costs for utility customers while standing in the way of more efficient and cost-effective energy resources.”

DOE’s third order under Federal Power Act Section 202(c) forces Consumers Energy to run the J.H. Campbell coal plant until February 19, 2026, despite the planned retirement of the plant as approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission. DOE’s previous Section 202(c) orders have already cost tens of millions of dollars between May 31 and September 30.

The retirement of the Campbell Plant, originally built in the 1960s, has been the matter of extensive planning and analysis by state regulators and the broader inter-state power grid. This has included the procurement of replacement power resources, and the planning for future resources, to more than account for the removal of the Campbell Plant. The retirement of the Campbell Plant and its replacement with more cost-effective resources were elements of a carefully considered plan that was expected to save Michigan ratepayers nearly $600 million. 

DOE’s order to cancel the Campbell retirement disregards all prior planning and regulatory approvals, in yet another example of the Trump administration arbitrarily declaring a false emergency as a pretext for advancing its policy agenda by means outside its normal authority. Never before has DOE delayed the retirement of a power plant absent a request from the operating utility or local governmental body, and only ever in response to concrete, particularized emergencies, and subject to limitations to ensure that the order extends no further than necessary to address the emergency at hand.

The Attorney General’s challenge includes that the order as issued exceeds the authority granted to DOE, and that DOE failed to take required steps to limit the amount of operation to only when necessary and to minimize environmental impacts.

Attorney General Nessel has already filed requests for rehearing and petitions for review in DOE’s two previous orders. Those proceedings are still ongoing. She also separately filed on November 18, 2025, a motion to stay DOE’s latest order, asserting the third order is based on an outdated reliability assessment report to fabricate the emergency.

Under the Federal Power Act, the Department of Energy has 30 days to respond to the Attorney General’s request.

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