Overview
- The Energy Department issued a third 90‑day order on Nov. 18 to keep Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell coal plant online through Feb. 17, 2026, citing emergency conditions and blackout risks.
- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel sought a stay, arguing the order relied on outdated analyses and pointing to the latest NERC winter assessment that lists MISO at normal risk.
- MISO and the Michigan Public Service Commission had approved the plant’s retirement and did not request federal intervention to continue operations.
- Consumers Energy reports roughly $80 million in net costs through Sept. 30, averaging about $615,000 per day, and plans to seek FERC‑approved cost recovery from customers across the multistate grid.
- Environmental groups continue court challenges, calling the aging 1962‑era, roughly 1,450‑MW plant costly, polluting and unreliable.