U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued a second emergency order under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to keep Unit 1 at the Craig coal plant in Colorado running for another three months until June 28.
The first order keeping the coal plant operating was issued Dec. 30 and is being challenged in court. (See Petitions Filed to Overturn DOE’s Craig Coal Plant Extension.)
“The last administration’s energy subtraction policies threatened America’s energy security and positioned our nation to likely experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years — thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” Wright said in a statement March 30. “The Trump administration will continue taking action to ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable and secure energy to power their homes all the time, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
Craig Unit 1 is operated by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and co-owned by it, PacifiCorp, Platt River Power Authority, Salt River Project and Xcel’s Public Service Company of Colorado.
Tri-State and the Western Area Power Administration Rocky Mountain Region are joining SPP as part of its RTO West expansion effective April 1, so the order directs the grid operator to use economic dispatch for the plant and to minimize ratepayer costs.
The 446.4-MW Craig Unit 1 started operations in 1980 and was poised to cease operations in December. DOE released a resource adequacy report last year arguing power plant retirements should stop considering rising demand and the agency noted that 17 GW of coal generation stayed open in 2025.
The Craig extension came a week after DOE extended emergency orders for CenterPoint and MISO to keep the F.B. Culley Generating Station open and for NIPSCO and MISO to keep the Schahfer Generating Station running. Both plants are located Indiana.
The coal plants were slated to retire in December and now are being kept open another 90 days. DOE reported that both ran during a major cold snap from Jan. 23 to Feb. 1. The Indiana plants’ 202(c) orders also are being challenged in court. (See Groups Contest Indiana Coal Plants’ Emergency Extensions at D.C. Circuit.)
In other cases, such as the legal challenge to the Campbell power plant 202(c) orders, appeals have been filed for every order. But the court has held them in abeyance and moved forward with the appeal of the first order issued for a plant.
DOE issued its first 202(c) order to block a planned retirement at the Campbell plant in Michigan in May 2025 and that case is the farthest along, with the department filing its first brief recently. Final briefs are due this April, and oral arguments are scheduled for May 15. (See DOE Defends Use of Emergency Orders in Court Filing.)
