By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer
The Trump administration ended the year with a flurry of emergency orders to keep open Indiana and Colorado coal-fired plants slated to close at the end of 2025.
The orders followed one issued last spring to keep the 1,560-megawatt J.H. Campbell coal plant in West Olive, Mich., running despite a plan to shut it down.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April with the aim of “reinvigorating America’s beautiful clean coal industry.” Nevertheless, 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired generation are scheduled to close in 2026 and 6.8 GW in 2027, according to federal data.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued the emergency orders, under the Federal Power Act, citing potential shortages of generating capacity, but environmental groups and Colorado officials pushed back on the moves.
On Dec. 24, DOE Secretary Christopher Wright issued two orders to keep two units at the R.M. Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Ind. and one unit at the F.B. Culley Generating Station in Warrick County, Ind. running.
The order said the Midcontinent Independent System Operator faces potential tight reserve margins, particularly during periods of high demand or low generation resource output. The plants were directed to stay online for the next 90 days.
“Keeping these coal plants online has the potential to save lives and is just common sense,” Wright said in a statement. “Americans deserve reliable power regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining during extreme winter conditions.”
Combined, the three units have 951 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity. The R.M. Schahfer units began operating in 1983 and 1986 and the F.B. Culley unit in 1966.
The order states that the Schahfer station, operated by NIPSCO, and CenterPoint’s Culley Generating Station must remain “available to operate” until at least March 23.
“We recognize the importance of both reliability and cost management for our customers, and we will continue to engage with federal, state, and local stakeholders as we adapt to evolving regulatory requirements,” Vince Parisi, NIPSCO’s president and chief operating officer, said in a statement.
Indiana environmental groups and consumer advocates sharply criticized the DOE orders, arguing they would force “households to pay more for coal’s deadly air and toxic water pollution.”
“The federal government’s order to force extremely expensive and unreliable coal units to stay open will result in higher bills for Hoosiers who are already reeling from record-high rate increases in 2025,” Ben Inskeep, program director for the Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana told Indiana public radio.
“We can’t afford this costly and unfounded federal overreach,” Inskeep said.
On Dec. 30, the Trump administration issued an emergency order to keep open the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s Craig Generation Station Unit 1, in Craig, Colo. The unit was scheduled to close the following day.
“The emergency conditions resulting from increasing demand and shortage from accelerated retirement of generation facilities … could lead to the loss of power to homes, and businesses,” the DOE order states.
Tri-State was directed to “take all measures necessary to ensure that Craig Unit 1 is available to operate” through March 2026.
Craig Unit 1 was closing to comply with clean air regulations and for economic reasons, Tri-State said in a statement.
The order presents a problem for Tri-State because the 45-year-old unit went offline on Dec. 19 due to equipment breakdowns.
“As a result of the order, retaining Unit 1 will likely require additional investments in operations, repairs, maintenance and, potentially, fuel supply, all factors increasing costs,” Tri-State said in a statement.
“Tri-State is continuing to review the order to determine how best to comply while limiting the costs to its members, and the impacts to its employees and operations,” the association said.
Tri-State provides power to 41 rural electric cooperatives and public power districts in four states, including 15 in Colorado. While the association operates the plant, Xcel Energy, the Platte River Power Authority, PacifiCorp, and the Salt River Project each own a percentage of the unit.
The order was denounced by Colorado officials and environmental groups.
“This order will pass tens of millions in costs to Colorado rate payers, in order to keep a coal plant open that is broken and not needed,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement.
“The coal plant isn’t even operational right now, meaning repairs — to the tune of millions of dollars — just to get it running, all on the backs of Colorado ratepayers,” Polis said.
The Trump administration is abusing the section of the Federal Power Act that allows for emergency action, Eric Frankowski, executive director of the Western Clean Energy Campaign, said in a statement.
“The Energy Secretary has the authority to issue such orders, but they are supposed to be used only in rare emergency circumstances,” Frankowski said. “There is no crisis or emergency involving Craig Unit 1, which at 45 years old is nearing the end of its expected operational life.”
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