WASHINGTON-U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright issued an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest heading into the summer months. The emergency order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant (Campbell Plant) in West Olive, Michigan shall take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to minimize costs for the American people. The Campbell Plant was originally scheduled to shut down on May 31, 2025-15 years before the end of its scheduled design life. The Campbell Plant was integral in stabilizing the grid during the recent winter storms, proving that allowing it to cease operations would needlessly contribute to grid fragility.
“The energy sources that perform when you need them most are inherently the most valuable-that’s why beautiful, clean coal was the MVP during peak capacity events this past year,” Secretary Wright said. “Hundreds of American lives have likely been saved because of President Trump’s actions saving America’s coal plants, including this Michigan coal plant which ran daily during Winter Storm Fern. This emergency order will mitigate the risk of blackouts and maintain affordable, reliable, and secure electricity access across the region this summer.”
Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, coal plants across the country are reversing plans to shut down. In 2025, more than 17 gigawatts of coal-powered electricity generation were saved from going offline.
Since the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original order issued on May 23, 2025, the Campbell Plant has proven critical to MISO’s operations, operating regularly during periods of high energy demand and low levels of intermittent energy production. Subsequent orders were issued throughout 2025 and in early 2026.
As outlined in DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, power outages could increase by 100 times in 2030 if the U.S. continues to take reliable power offline. The emergency conditions that led to the issuance of the original orders persist.
In January 2026, NERC released its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. NERC assessed that the MISO region is at high risk of energy shortfalls over the next five years, stating that it faces significant reliability challenges as “projected resource additions do not keep pace with escalating demand forecasts and announced generator retirements.”
This order is in effect beginning on May 19, 2026, through August 16, 2026.
Background:
MISO’s Planning Resource Auction Results for the 2025-2026 Planning Year, released in April 2025, noted that for the northern and central zones, which include Michigan, “new capacity additions were insufficient to offset the negative impacts of decreased accreditation, suspensions/retirements and external resources.”
MISO’s resource adequacy problems are not limited to the summer months. In 2022, MISO filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for approval to revise its resource adequacy construct (including the Planning Resource Auction or PRA) to establish capacity requirements for each of the four seasons of the year rather than require capacity on an annual basis determined by peak summer demand. [1]
MISO justified this revision by explaining that, “Reliability risks associated with Resource Adequacy have shifted from ‘Summer only’ to a year-round concern.” [2]
[1] Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., FERC Docket No. ER22-495-000 (Nov. 30, 2021). This request was approved by FERC on August 31, 2022. Midcontinent Indep. Sys. Operator, Inc., 180 FERC ¶ 61,141 (2022).
[2] MISO Transmittal Letter at 3, FERC Docket No. ER22-495-000 (Nov. 30, 2021).