Department of Energy orders J.H. Campbell coal plant to stay online through summer peak

The Department of Energy has ordered the J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Michigan, to remain available through August 16, extending an emergency directive the agency says is needed to support Midwest power-grid reliability during the summer demand peak.

The new order, issued May 18, follows earlier federal action to keep the plant online after its planned closure. DOE said the move is aimed at protecting the grid as electricity demand rises heading into summer.

The order directs MISO and Consumers Energy to keep the plant available for operation. In its filing, DOE framed the decision as a reliability measure for the Midwest.

Michigan officials and environmental groups have challenged the federal intervention, arguing there is no real energy emergency and that forcing the plant to stay open is unnecessary, costly, and polluting. The state attorney general's office said last week it would argue before a federal appeals court against the DOE order.

The latest extension keeps the Campbell plant in the center of a broader fight over whether federal emergency authority should be used to delay coal retirements in the name of grid reliability.

The next likely developments are in the courts, where opponents are seeking to block the order, and in the utility planning process as the August 16 deadline approaches.