Groups Challenge Trump Administration’s Illegal Craig Coal Plant Extension

Groups Challenge Trump Administration's Illegal Craig Coal Plant Extension

Order required broken plant to stay online to address unproven emergency

Contacts

Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, [email protected]

Chandler Green, Environmental Defense Fund, [email protected]

Noah Rott, Sierra Club, [email protected]

Estrella Lozano, Vote Solar, [email protected]

Public interest organizations today challenged the Department of Energy's illegal emergency order extending the life of Unit 1 at Colorado's Craig Station. The groups include Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund, and Earthjustice on behalf of GreenLatinos, Vote Solar, and Public Citizen. The request for rehearing was filed in response to DOE's December 30 order, which prevented the planned retirement of Unit 1. The unit had been scheduled to retire one day later. DOE's order forces the plant to remain available for 90 days and operate at the direction of regional grid authorities, and may be renewed. The order is likely to raise utility customers' bills and worsen air quality for surrounding communities.

DOE's order was not requested by Craig's co-owners or any of their state level regulators. On the contrary, these entities have confirmed that retiring Craig is economically and environmentally beneficial. The retirement also does not pose significant risk to reliability of the electric system due to careful utility planning.

"Families deserve solutions that lower bills and strengthen the grid, not federal requirements that lock in outdated infrastructure," said Vote Solar Regulatory Director for the West Kate Bowman. "Colorado communities, regulators, and utilities spent years planning a lawful, cost-effective transition away from coal. Overriding that process at the eleventh hour erodes public trust and leaves families paying more for decisions made without their input."

"There is no energy emergency here; only political interference in Coloradans environmental progress that will raise bills and worsen pollution," said Ean Thomas Tafoya, vice president of state programs for GreenLatinos.

The DOE order for Craig is one of several issued by the Trump administration to prevent the long-planned retirement of some of the dirtiest and oldest coal-burning power plants across the country. Similar orders have been issued for plants in Michigan, Indiana and Washington.

The DOE must respond to today's rehearing request within 30 days. If the DOE does not respond, or if DOE denies the request, the public interest groups intend to challenge the order in court.

"The federal government has manufactured a fake emergency to revive a coal plant that was literally broken at the time DOE claimed the plant is needed. This order is out of touch with the basic needs of Coloradans struggling with high energy bills and with communities facing one of the warmest winters on record," said Margaret Kran-Annexstein, Director of the Colorado Sierra Club. "Trump's actions benefit coal executives at the expense of everyday people."

Section 202(c) orders may address only imminent and unexpected shortfalls - in other words, real emergencies. DOE's Craig order exceeds that authority and instead tries to impose the administration's preference for coal-fired power. Coal plants are retiring because they cannot compete in the market. The administration has presented no evidence of an actual energy emergency that requires keeping Unit 1 available.

The DOE order also fails to address Craig's reliability issues and lack of maintenance investments in recent years in anticipation of its planned retirement. In fact, Craig was broken at the time of the DOE order. An analysis of North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)'s GADs data found that coal suffers the most unplanned outages due to equipment failures than any other tracked power source.

"Coloradans didn't sign up for higher electricity bills and more asthma-causing pollution - but that's exactly what the Trump administration's illegal mandate delivers," said Ted Kelly, director and lead counsel for U.S. Clean Energy at EDF. "Craig is uneconomic and unreliable; in fact, it just suffered a costly mechanical failure last month. Forcing this ancient coal plant to stay on life support defies common sense and upends the state's plans to move to more affordable, cleaner and dependable energy sources."

The DOE order threatens to needlessly hit utility customers' wallets. According to an analysis by Grid Strategies, if the plant is dispatched at its average output over the last few years, costs could rise to $20 million over 90 days, equating to approximately $85 million per year, or even upwards of $150 million per year if the plant is directed to operate in must-run fashion. Those costs are likely to be borne by electricity customers in Colorado and nearby states. A member of the White House's National Energy Dominance Council recently admitted that "all costs end up on ratepayers," when utilities are required by the federal government to keep coal plants online.

"President Trump's inane energy culture wars claim more victims, as families already struggling with unaffordable utility bills will pay more because of this asinine coal bailout," said Tyson Slocum, energy program director for Public Citizen. "Trump explicitly promised voters in 2024 that as President he would slash utility bills in half by January 20, 2026. Trump lied, and families are paying more under his failed energy agenda."

"The Department of Energy's Craig order is costly, harmful, unnecessary, and illegal," said Leslie Coleman, senior attorney with Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office. "Across the country, this administration is sacrificing our communities' health and economic well-being to do the bidding of the coal industry. Coloradans should not have to pay the price. We are challenging this illegal order to ensure that doesn't happen."

Additional Resources

• About the Clean Energy Program
• About the Rocky Mountain Office

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.