Sierra Club and Partners Challenge Trump Administration’s Illegal Efforts to Block the Retirement of Indiana Coal Plants

Washington, D.C. - Sierra Club and partners filed a challenge in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn Trump's illegal "emergency" orders issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), forcing two coal-fired power plants in Indiana to continue operating past their scheduled retirement dates.

The DOE stopped the retirement of the last coal units at the R.M. Schahfer power plant and one of the coal units at the F.B. Culley generating station in December 2025. The 90-day federal "emergency" orders override the decisions made in the interest of customers by power companies, grid operators, and state utility regulators to retire the plants. Experts estimate the cost to ratepayers to operate the Schahfer and Culley coal units for just the initial 90 days would exceed $20 million - not including the costs of any repair costs to make the plants operational. The Trump Administration implemented similar orders in Michigan , Washington and Colorado .

NIPSCO, owner of the Schahfer plant, and CenterPoint, owner of Culley, now want Hoosiers, but also residents of other states across the Midwest, to cover the costs for repairing and operating the plant, forcing higher expenses onto those around the region.

Sierra Club, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, and Earthjustice, representing Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Just Transition Northwest Indiana, and Hoosier Environmental Council have challenged the illegal orders. See the petitions for review for R.M. Schahfer and F.B. Culley .

In response, the coalition released the following statements:

Sierra Club Senior Attorney Greg Wannier: "Trump's illegal emergency order to keep Indiana's last coal plant running is yet another effort by the administration to bolster the coal industry and shift energy costs onto Hoosiers. Indiana families and small businesses are experiencing the highest increase in energy prices in two decades . Propping up expensive, polluting coal will only exacerbate the affordability crisis families are facing. Hoosiers deserve a cleaner, more affordable energy future, and we'll continue our fight to deliver one."

Sameer Doshi, Earthjustice senior attorney: "Federal law simply doesn't permit the federal government to manipulate power sector assets in this way without a true emergency. The plant owners and everyone with responsibility for grid stability planned several years ahead for the orderly retirement of these aging units. Now the Trump Administration is forcing continued and unnecessary burning of coal, which will mean more air and water pollution as well as higher electricity bills. We're asking the Court to curb this abuse."

Howard Learner, ELPC CEO & Executive Director: "The D.C. Circuit should reverse this illegal DOE Order. Midwestern families and businesses should not be forced to pay millions of dollars in higher electricity charges to keep running the uneconomic Schahfer and Culley coal plants, which are not needed for reliability. That's especially true when cleaner, more affordable alternatives are readily available. The Trump administration's unlawful mandate to keep running these old coal plants worsens electricity affordability, lacks legal justification, and overruns reasonable decisions made by state officials, the utility and the affected communities."

Kerwin Olson, Executive Director of the Citizens Action Coalition: "These illegal orders rob CenterPoint and NIPSCO ratepayers of the savings promised them from the closure of these antiquated and climate wrecking coal units. They already face the highest electric bills in Indiana. They simply can't afford it."

Ashley Williams, Executive Director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana: "We proudly join this challenge to push back against these unethical and unlawful emergency orders that disproportionately harm our coal-impacted communities. As the statewide affordability crisis balloons with no end in sight, we cannot let these plants burn away our future while we fund our own demise. Northwest Indiana is home to some of the most biodiverse, thriving ecosystems on the planet. Yet we shoulder the burden of legacy industrial pollution, specifically due to plants like the NIPSCO Schahfer Generating Station. We must protect our region from further sacrifice. We will not allow these orders to go through without a fight!"

Indra Frank, Coal Ash Advisor at Hoosier Environmental Council: "Cleaner power sources are available and these plants were ready to stop burning coal, so the federal order is unwarranted. It creates additional air pollution, coal ash pollution, and expense for Indiana communities."

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