Trump administration extends order keeping Michigan coal online past closure date

MICHIGAN—The Trump administration has once again extended the life of a Michigan coal-fired power plant that was supposed to close last May as the utility Consumers Energy transitions to cleaner sources of electricity.

The US Energy Department says there are “emergency conditions” that require the JH Campbell power plant to remain open to meet electrical demand in the central US. Otherwise, the government warned Tuesday, homes and businesses might go dark.

Critics scoff at that claim, and environmental groups and Michigan’s attorney general have gone to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online.

“The costs of unnecessarily running this jalopy coal plant just continue to mount,” Earthjustice lawyer Michael Lenoff said.

The Campbell plant opened in 1962 near Lake Michigan in western Michigan’s Ottawa County. It can generate up to 1,450 megawatts of electricity to serve up to 1 million people.

Consumers Energy planned to close it May 31, but the Energy Department ordered it to stay open for three months, citing a need for reliable electricity during the hot summer.

That decision has since been extended twice, and the latest order lasts until Feb. 17.

Consumers Energy acknowledged Wednesday that it will continue operating the plant. The net expense through September was pegged at $80 million, which will be shared by customers who are part of a multistate electric grid, the utility said in a securities filing in October.

Michigan utility regulators criticized the May order to keep Campbell open but declined to comment on the latest extension.