U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order to address grid reliability concerns in the Midwest as winter approaches. The order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), working with Consumers Energy, to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan available for operation. The plant had been scheduled for shutdown on May 31, 2025, fifteen years before its designed lifespan was set to end.
“Because of the last administration’s dangerous energy subtraction policies targeting reliable and affordable energy sources, the United States continues to face an energy emergency,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “The Trump administration will keep taking action to reverse these energy subtraction policies, lowering energy costs and minimizing the risks of blackouts. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable and secure energy regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, especially in dangerously cold weather."
The Department of Energy (DOE) previously issued a similar order on May 23 and another on August 20, 2025. According to DOE officials, since then, the Campbell plant has played a critical role in supporting MISO’s operations during periods when demand is high or intermittent generation is low.
DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report indicates that power outages could rise dramatically by 2030 if reliable generation continues to be retired from service without adequate replacement capacity. Recent studies by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), including its Winter Reliability Assessments for both 2023-2024 and 2024-2025, have found that MISO's region faces elevated risks with "potential for insufficient operating reserves in above-normal conditions."
The emergency order will remain in effect from November 19, 2025 through February 17, 2026.
Background information shows that MISO’s Planning Resource Auction Results for the upcoming planning year highlighted insufficient new capacity additions in northern and central zones—including Michigan—to offset retirements and reduced accreditation of existing resources.
MISO’s resource adequacy challenges are now recognized as year-round issues rather than being limited to summer months. In response to this evolving risk profile, MISO requested approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late 2021 to change its capacity requirements from an annual basis focused on summer peaks to a seasonal model covering all four seasons. FERC approved this request in August 2022 after MISO explained that "Reliability risks associated with Resource Adequacy have shifted from ‘Summer only’ to a year-round concern."
