Federal appeals court strikes down Trump order forcing Michigan coal plant to stay open, ruling DOE exceeded emergency powers

USA: A federal appeals court has unanimously struck down a Trump administration order that forced a Michigan coal plant to remain operational beyond its planned retirement date, finding that the Department of Energy (DOE) exceeded its authority under an emergency provision of federal law.

According to CNBC, the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled on Friday that the DOE’s instruction to keep the J.H. Campbell Generating Plant in Michigan online, issued shortly before its planned closure in 2025, was unlawful. Michigan had challenged the order, and the court agreed that the department had overstepped the emergency provision it relied upon under the Federal Power Act.

The plant, operated by Consumers Energy, had been scheduled to close in 2025 because it was no longer economically viable. Its continued operation under the DOE order cost the utility US$295 million from May 2025 through June 2026, according to the Michigan attorney general’s office.

The ruling is a setback for the Trump administration’s strategy of using emergency powers under the Federal Power Act to keep ageing coal-fired power plants operating, which was a policy that’s framed around soaring US electricity demand driven by the rapid expansion of data centres. Since 2025, the administration has used such orders to preserve coal plants in Michigan, Indiana, Washington state, and Colorado.

Earthjustice attorney Michael Lenoff welcomed the decision in pointed terms. “The DOE needs to stay in its lane and use its emergency powers only in actual emergencies. Preventing the market-driven retirements of coal plants to advance a coal-friendly agenda is not a proper use of emergency powers,” he said, as quoted by CNBC.

Coal-fired power generation is among the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions contributing to climate change, and the administration’s use of emergency powers to extend the life of plants that the market has rendered uneconomical has drawn sustained criticism from environmental groups and state governments.

The ruling, issued one month after DOE extended the emergency order to keep the Campbell plant open through Nov 14, leaves the administration’s coal preservation strategy in legal jeopardy, with similar orders at plants in other states potentially now vulnerable to comparable challenges.