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A Court Just Ruled The Energy Emergency Was Not One
On 11 September 2026 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously vacated the Energy Department's emergency order that had kept the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan running about fifteen months past its scheduled retirement.
Campbell is 1,420 megawatts of coal built in the 1960s, owned by Consumers Energy, and was scheduled to shut on 31 May 2025. Days before that date the Energy Department ordered it to keep running under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act — the emergency provision — and then reissued the order each time it was about to expire.
The Energy Department says it will "continue to protect and defend energy security for all Americans," pointing to blackouts avoided during Winter Storm Fern in January. Three more petitions over the other plants are pending at the same court.
Consumers Energy says Campbell will keep running into mid-November.
Cost figures are claims in filings and a tracker, not judgments. All footage is licensed stock; nothing on screen is the Campbell plant.
The spine
On 11 September 2026 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously vacated the Energy Department's Federal Power Act section 202(c) emergency order that had kept the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan running for about fifteen months past its scheduled retirement. The court held the situation was not an "emergency" within the statute.
The ruling
- Case: Michigan v. Department of Energy, D.C. Circuit, 11 Sep 2026.
- Panel: Judge Pillard wrote; joined by Chief Judge Srinivasan and Judge Wilkins. Unanimous.
- Holding, in the opinion's words: section 202(c) "is best read to apply where the Department identifies a risk of substantial harm from inadequate electricity supply that calls for immediate action by DOE."
- And: "our reading of the text, structure, and history leaves us unpersuaded by DOE's sweeping conception of its 'emergency' authority under Section 202(c)."
The money
- Consumers Energy reports $259 million in net compliance costs for Campbell through 30 June 2026 (after $239M of MISO market revenues); it is seeking to recover this from electricity customers across MISO's north and central regions. (Michigan AG cites $295M gross for May 2025–June 2026.)
- Sierra Club tracker: about $547 million in total cost to Americans across the seven plants held open by orders of this kind.
How this was verified — the rest of the fact sheet
Who brought it
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (also for Illinois and Minnesota), Earthjustice for the Sierra Club and Urban Core Collective, plus NRDC, Michigan Environmental Council, EDF, ELPC, Vote Solar, Ecology Center, Union of Concerned Scientists.
"This administration does not get to invent fake emergencies to bypass the rule of law against Michigan residents." — Dana Nessel, Michigan AG
What DOE says
"The Energy Department will continue to protect and defend energy security for all Americans." — DOE spokesperson, noting the orders prevented blackouts during Winter Storm Fern in January.
Sources
- Utility Dive, "Court rejects DOE 'emergency' order delaying coal plant retirement as overstep", 11–12 Sep 2026.
- Reason / Volokh Conspiracy, "DC Circuit Rejects Energy Department's Claim of 'Emergency' Authority…", 11 Sep 2026.
- Michigan Attorney General press release, 11 Sep 2026.
- Common Dreams, 11 Sep 2026. · Ars Technica, 11 Sep 2026. · Politico, 11 Sep 2026.
References
Reporting drawn from Utility Dive · Reason/Volokh · Michigan AG · Common Dreams · Ars Technica
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the government's electricity emergency was never an emergency. The order it struck down kept a coal plant from the 1960s burning for 15 months past the day it was meant to close
The plant is J.H. Campbell in Michigan. Fourteen hundred and twenty megawatts of coal owned by Consumers Energy, scheduled to shut on the 31st of May, 2025
Days before that date, the Energy Department ordered it to keep running under Section 202C of the Federal Power Act. That section exists for emergencies. The department then reissued the order every time it was about to expire
On Friday, the District of Columbia Circuit threw the order out unanimously. The court wrote that the section is best read to apply where the department identifies a risk of substantial harm from inadequate electricity supply
Someone paid for those 15 months. Consumers Energy reports two hundred and fifty-nine million dollars in net costs through June, and it is asking electricity customers across the Midwest to cover them
Campbell is not the only one. The Sierra Club counts seven plants held open by orders like it, and roughly five hundred and forty-seven million dollars charged to American households for the privilege
Michigan's attorney general brought the case with Illinois and Minnesota alongside Earthjustice and the Sierra Club. Dana Nessel said the administration does not get to invent fake emergencies to bypass the rule of law
The Energy Department says it will keep defending energy security for all Americans and points to a storm in January. Three more petitions about the other plants are already waiting at the same court
Consumers Energy says Campbell will keep running into the middle of November. The bills for an emergency that a court says never existed are still being written
