The DOE’s May 23 2025 order directing Consumers Energy to continue running a coal plant in West Olive, Michigan, past retirement, faced challenges from Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, the Sierra Club, and other groups. [1] They contend that the DOE failed to show the Midcontinent region around the plant faces an energy emergency. In response, the DOE told a federal appeals court that the DOE secretary has broad authority under the Federal Power Act to declare emergencies to prevent power plants from retiring, and that they need not be imminent. [2] In a March 17 brief with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the DOE states that the statute’s text grants the secretary discretion to determine that an emergency exists. [3] In these orders, the DOE asserts that the power plants need to keep running to prevent blackouts in the face of rising electric demand. Under the Federal Power Act, the DOE has not allowed these orders to lapse, issuing new 90-day orders when the old ones expire.
[1] https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/27899615/doe202cbrief.pdf
[3] https://www.energy.gov/ceser/does-use-federal-power-act-emergency-authority