Michigan, environmental groups challenge federal order to keep power plant open

Key Points

• Michigan’s attorney general and environmental groups filed separate challenges against a federal order forcing Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell coal plant to stay open this summer, arguing there is no energy emergency to justify the extension.
• The 54-page petition asserts the U.S. Energy Department lacks authority to compel Consumers Energy to rehabilitate and continue operating the increasingly unreliable plant, overruling state and utility plans for cleaner, cheaper power.
• Consumers Energy had planned to retire the plant by May 31 but now must keep it running through at least late August due to DOE concerns over potential Midcontinent grid shortfalls, even though MISO forecasts adequate summer supply.
• A similar federal intervention recently compelled Pennsylvania’s Eddystone oil-and-gas plant to remain online as a hedge against electricity shortages in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid.

DETROIT (AP) — Environmental groups and Michigan's attorney general filed separate challenges Wednesday against a federal order that is keeping a coal-fired power plant open this summer.

The environmental coalition said there is no energy emergency that would justify keeping Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell plant alive in Ottawa County, near Lake Michigan.

The U.S. Energy Department “has no authority to compel Consumers to rehabilitate — and effectively reconstruct — the increasingly unreliable plant, nor to override the state’s and utility’s decision to replace the plant with less expensive and cleaner sources,” the 54-page petition says.

Consumers Energy had planned to close the power station by May 31 as part of a transition to cleaner energy. But the Energy Department intervened just days earlier, saying the plant must remain open, at least until late August, because of possible electricity shortfalls in the central U.S.

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, known as MISO, manages the flow of electricity in 15 U.S. states and Manitoba in Canada. MISO has said there should be enough electricity this summer, though it cited the potential for “elevated risk” during extreme weather.

“This type of order is fairly unprecedented,” lawyer Shannon Fisk of Earthjustice said. “It's a fabricated emergency.”

The Energy Department defended its position. “This administration is committed to ensuring Americans have access to reliable, affordable and secure energy that isn’t dependent on whether the sun shines or the wind blows,” spokesperson Ben Dietderich said.

Consumers Energy said it is complying with the order, noting that the first coal delivery arrived before the planned May 31 decommissioning.

It is unclear whether the challenges by Attorney General Dana Nessel and environmental groups would be settled by the end of August when the order expires. Fisk said the order could be extended. A lawsuit also could be pursued.

In Pennsylvania, an oil and gas plant was also ordered to keep its turbines running as a hedge against electricity shortages in the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid. The Eddystone Generating Station is just south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River.