Court deals first blow to Trump’s coal rescue campaign
Por Niina H. Farah — POLITICO – TOP Stories
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected an Energy Department emergency order that kept a Michigan coal plant running months past its planned retirement date, delivering a stinging first blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to hand U.S. coal a lifeline.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that Energy Secretary Chris Wright failed to show that federal intervention over state authority was warranted when he ordered a Michigan utility to keep operating the J.H. Campbell power plant in May 2025 — days before it was scheduled to shut down permanently.
“Our reading of the text, structure, and history leaves us unpersuaded by DOE’s sweeping conception of its ‘emergency’ authority,” said Judge Cornelia Pillard, writing the opinion for the court.
“The Department’s position would empower it to pick its preferred power sources in Michigan — or, presumably, any other state — and order them to operate without regard to the multiple procedural and substantive constraints built into state reliability planning processes,” said Pillard, an Obama appointee.
Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judge Robert Wilkins, also Obama appointees, joined the decision.
The ruling is a big win for Michigan and Illinois, along with a coalition of environmental groups that challenged the emergency order. The ruling also lays the groundwork for how other courts could respond to a string of similar orders — including three others challenged before the D.C. Circuit — challenging emergency orders requiring six coal plants across the country to remain online.
Michael Lenoff, an Earthjustice attorney representing the environmental challengers in the Campbell plant case, said the decision was a rebuke of the Trump administration’s “abuse of emergency powers.”
“DOE needs to stay in its lane and use its emergency powers only in actual emergencies,” Lenoff said in a statement following the ruling.
“Preventing the market-driven retirements of coal plants to advance a coal-friendly agenda is not a proper use of emergency powers,” he said. “We will continue to challenge unlawful orders if DOE persists in issuing them.”
The Trump administration could choose to appeal the ruling. The Justice Department declined to comment on the decision.
Wright’s order invoked a provision of the Federal Power Act that gives the DOE secretary authority to keep plants operating under emergency circumstances, such as wartime power shocks or natural disasters.
The Trump administration repeatedly extended the initial 90-day order to keep the Campbell plant running.
The D.C. Circuit found that the section of the law was “best read to apply where the Department identifies a risk of substantial harm from inadequate electricity supply that calls for immediate action by DOE in particular, as opposed to by the states.”
DOE’s move to extend the life of the Campbell plant was a gift for Michigan Republicans from the get-go. Since then, the issue has emerged as a flash point in some races across the state, with Democrats criticizing DOE’s involvement.
The D.C. Circuit’s decision just gave those Democrats a win by bolstering their position.
Consumers Energy, the owner of the Campbell plant, said it was reviewing the court’s ruling.
“While that happens, we are continuing to comply with the current 90-day Department of Energy order that keeps the Campbell plant operating,” the utility said in an emailed statement. “Ultimately, we will follow the law and work to ensure that everyone who benefits from power from the Campbell plant across the Midwest pays their fair share.”
Hannah Northey contributed to this report.
Fonte: POLITICO – TOP Stories
