Lansing, Michigan – Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is preparing another legal challenge against the U.S. Department of Energy, arguing that federal officials are again forcing Consumers Energy to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant running without a real emergency to justify it.
The plant, located in West Olive, Michigan, had been approved for retirement on May 31, 2025. Instead, the DOE has now issued its fifth order under Federal Power Act Section 202(c), requiring the Campbell plant to continue operating until August 16, 2026. Nessel’s office says the newest order is arbitrary, illegal, and built on what it describes as a manufactured energy emergency.
“We are nearly a year into these so-called emergency orders designed to keep an aging coal plant on life support at the expense of Michigan ratepayers,” said Attorney General Nessel.
“Never before has DOE hijacked a plant’s retirement without a real, short-term crisis. Now the costs are stacking up, and my office will continue to fight these unlawful extensions.”
The Campbell plant was originally built in the 1960s, and its retirement was part of a broader, carefully reviewed plan to replace its power with other resources. According to Nessel’s office, those plans were meant to more than cover the loss of the plant’s generation while saving Michigan customers nearly $600 million.
Instead, Consumers Energy has reported at least $180 million in costs tied to keeping the plant open beyond its scheduled retirement date. That figure does not include the continued operating costs from March 31, 2026, to the present.
Nessel has repeatedly argued that the DOE has failed to prove the kind of short-term crisis needed to use its emergency authority.
Her office has already filed four requests for rehearing with the department and four petitions for review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Last week, the Department of Attorney General also presented oral arguments before the court challenging DOE’s original May 23, 2025, order.
The fight is also unfolding before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC granted Consumers Energy’s request to spread the costs of operating the Campbell plant across the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s north and central regions, which include 11 states and one Canadian province.
Nessel is seeking a hearing on those costs, saying they must be shown to be accurate and reasonable.
Her office is also challenging similar DOE orders involving coal plants in Indiana, arguing that Michigan residents should not be forced to carry costs from unlawful federal actions.