“Michigan must be in the fight to maintain self-determination in where our power comes from,” said Nessel. “The closure of this coal-powered electric plant has been planned for years, the utility made all due preparations to maintain our energy load without it, and the closure has been agreed to and cited in settlements affecting customer costs.

“In particular, if this arbitrary and unlawful order is allowed to stand, the only effect Michiganders will feel will be the pinch in their pockets. The costs of maintaining production at the plant, long since prepared for closure, could be an enormous burden on the rate-paying customers of Consumers Energy. And that’s before taking into account the environmental and public health costs of continuing to fuel a coal-powered plant.”

The retirement of the Campbell Plant, originally built in the 1960s, has been the matter of extensive planning and analysis by state regulators and the broader inter-state power grid. This has included the procurement of replacement power resources, and the planning for future resources, to more than account for the removal of the Campbell Plant. In fact, the retirement was initially sought by Consumers Energy in its June 30, 2021 integrated resource plan application.  Parties in that case, including the Attorney General, signed a settlement that included the retirement of the Campbell Plant and the settlement was approved by the Michigan Public Service Commission in June of 2022. The retirement of the Campbell Plant 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.

“This unprecedented Order of the Department of Energy declares an emergency without evidence, completely ignores state and federal regulators that approved the plants retirement, and will potentially put enormous costs onto utility customers who receive no real benefit,” Nessel continued. “As I have done throughout my years in office, today we’re fighting for affordable utility bills and the rights of Michiganders to clean up their energy production.”

The Department of Energy’s May 23, 2025, Order to cancel the Campbell retirement disregards all prior planning and regulatory approvals, in yet another example of the Trump administration arbitrarily declaring a false emergency as a pretext for advancing its policy agenda by means outside its normal authority.  The Order states that the plant will continue to run through August, though it is possible the DOE could issue another order at that point extending again the plant’s producing lifetime.  Never before has the DOE delayed the retirement of a power plant absent a request from the operating utility or local governmental body, and only ever in response to concrete, particularized emergencies, and subject to limitations to ensure that the order extends no further than necessary to address the emergency at hand.

The Attorney General’s request for rehearing challenges the DOE’s Order on its inability to show an actual emergency, as well as for several other violations of the DOE’s authority under the Federal Power Act, which grants the DOE’s emergency powers. The Attorney General’s challenges include that the Order as issued exceeds the authority granted to the DOE, and that the DOE failed to take required steps to limit the amount of operation to only when necessary and to minimize environmental impacts.

Under the Federal Power Act, the Department of Energy has 30 days to respond to the Attorney General’s request.