U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced on Mar. 30 that the Trump administration has issued an emergency order to keep Unit 1 at the Craig Station coal plant in Colorado operational beyond its planned closure date. The directive requires Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp, and Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy), along with the Western Area Power Administration Rocky Mountain Region and Southwest Power Pool, to ensure the unit remains available.
The move is intended to maintain affordable, reliable, and secure electricity for Americans amid concerns about potential blackouts if critical generation sources are retired. According to DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report cited in the release, blackouts could increase significantly by 2030 if reliable power sources continue to be taken offline.
“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,” said Wright. “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.”
The Department of Energy states that more than 17 gigawatts of coal-power electricity generation were preserved across the country in 2025 due to these actions. Once Tri-State and WAPA Rocky Mountain Region join SPP RTO West expansion on April 1, SPP is instructed to use economic dispatch strategies aimed at minimizing costs for ratepayers.
Efforts by previous administrations have included programs such as a $225 million initiative funded by President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for implementing new building energy codes according to DOE. Other initiatives involved encouraging clean energy transitions internationally as highlighted by Secretary Jennifer Granholm, promoting technology development in environmental management according to testimony before Congress, applying innovative groundwater cleanup methods at former coal plants according to DOE Office of Environmental Management, supporting electric vehicle infrastructure with $96 million in funding opportunities according to DOE, and launching over 140 programs under President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative focused on delivering investments into disadvantaged communities according to DOE.
This emergency order will remain effective from March 31 through June 28.
