A U.S. Court of Appeals panel heard arguments on Friday in a case involving Consumers Energy's last remaining coal-burning power plant.
Last year — just a week before Consumers Energy planned to retire its aging Campbell power plant forever — the Department of Energy ordered it to remain open, citing an energy emergency based on a purported electricity shortage.
The utility had already gotten permission to close the West Michigan plant from the state of Michigan and the regional grid operator, MISO, and had identified a cleaner natural gas plant to replace the electricity that Campbell produced.
The state of Michigan and public advocacy groups led by the Sierra Club and Earthjustice sued the government.
Attorney Michael Lenoff is with Earthjustice. He said the shortage claim was false — and a pretext.
"This administration came in with a fixation to funnel Americans' money to the coal industry," he said. "The administration is abusing federal authority to overrule decisions to retire polluting, failing coal plants, letting coal companies pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink — and then charge us the bill."
Attorneys for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told the panel of judges that the decision by the Energy Department was arbitrary and illegal.
In a press release, Nessel said, "The retirement of the Campbell Plant, originally built in the 1960s, and its replacement with more cost-effective resources were elements of a carefully considered plan that was expected to save Michigan ratepayers nearly $600 million. Instead, Consumers Energy has reported at least $180 million in costs associated with operating the Campbell plant past its scheduled retirement date."
Attorneys for the Energy Department argued that the Secretary of Energy has the authority to declare energy emergencies based on his own assessment. They said federal law allows the department to act in advance of an anticipated surge of demand for electricity from data centers.
The judges' decision in the Campbell plant case could affect the fate of several coal plants in other states that had been scheduled for retirement but were also ordered to remain open by the Department of Energy.
Lawsuits have been filed challenging the department's orders in those cases as well.
Editor's note: Consumers Energy is among Michigan Public's corporate sponsors.
