A federal court on Friday ruled that the US energy department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power plant to remain open past its scheduled retirement date, handing a defeat to the Trump administration.
The decision concerns the JH Campbell Generating Plant, a 64-year-old facility that had been set to close last year. Energy secretary Chris Wright had invoked emergency powers to keep it running, arguing the plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity across the region.
The court found those emergency orders overstepped the department’s legal mandate. Environmental groups, together with the states of Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota, had gone to court to overturn the directives keeping the plant online.
The Campbell plant sits on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and had operated for more than six decades before its planned shutdown. The administration’s intervention delayed that retirement, prompting the legal challenge from the three states and conservation advocates.
Wright had defended the move as a measure to protect grid reliability. The plaintiffs countered that the department could not rely on emergency authority to keep an aging fossil-fuel plant running against a utility’s own retirement schedule.
The ruling adds to a series of court decisions testing the limits of executive action under the current administration. Federal judges have halted several administration initiatives on similar grounds of exceeding delegated authority, including disputes over spending and regulatory power.
The energy department has not indicated whether it will appeal the decision. The three states and environmental groups have described the outcome as a validation of their challenge to the retirement delay.