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News
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LCG, May 18, 2026--The U.S. Secretary of Energy today issued an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest anticipated this summer. The order is in effect beginning on May 19, 2026, through August 16, 2026. The emergency order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant (Campbell Plant) in West Olive, Michigan shall take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to minimize costs for the region.
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LCG, May 14, 2026--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that it is proposing a rule to revise wastewater limits, known as effluent limitations guidelines (ELG), for steam electric power plants that will help improve grid reliability and lower electricity prices while continuing to support clean and safe water resources. If finalized, the EPA's proposal is estimated to reduce electricity generation costs by as much as $1.1 billion annually, which could provide cost-savings to American consumers.
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Industry News
DOE Acts to Ensure Key Coal-fired Power Plants Are Available in MISO to Supply Peak Summer Demands
LCG, May 18, 2026--The U.S. Secretary of Energy today issued an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues in the Midwest anticipated this summer. The order is in effect beginning on May 19, 2026, through August 16, 2026. The emergency order directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), in coordination with Consumers Energy, to ensure that the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant (Campbell Plant) in West Olive, Michigan shall take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to minimize costs for the region. The Campbell Plant was originally scheduled to shut down on May 31, 2025, which is 15 years before the end of its scheduled design life. The Campbell Plant was integral in stabilizing the grid during the recent winter storms, demonstrating that allowing it to cease operations would needlessly contribute to grid fragility.
The Department of Energy's (DOE) announcement noted that, since the DOE's original order issued on May 23, 2025, the Campbell Plant has proven critical to MISO’s operations, operating regularly during periods of high energy demand and low levels of intermittent energy production. Subsequent orders were issued throughout 2025 and in early 2026.
The Secretary said, "The energy sources that perform when you need them most are inherently the most valuable—that's why beautiful, clean coal was the MVP during peak capacity events this past year. Hundreds of American lives have likely been saved because of President Trump’s actions saving America’s coal plants, including this Michigan coal plant which ran daily during Winter Storm Fern. This emergency order will mitigate the risk of blackouts and maintain affordable, reliable, and secure electricity access across the region this summer."
MISO’s Planning Resource Auction Results for the 2025-2026 Planning Year, released in April 2025, noted that for the northern and central zones, which include Michigan, "new capacity additions were insufficient to offset the negative impacts of decreased accreditation, suspensions/retirements and external resources."
A number of coal plants across the country are reversing plans to shut down. In 2025, more than 17 GWs of coal-powered electricity generation were saved from going offline. A factor that may have reduced coal-fired generation retirements in 2025 is that the DOE issued emergency orders under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act that directed several coal plants to temporarily remain available to operate with the goal of ensuring grid reliability.
The units receiving emergency orders in 2025 included J.H. Campbell Units 1, 2 and 3 in Michigan (1,331 MW), as well as Transalta Centralia Unit 2 in Washington (670 MW), R.M. Schahfer Units 17 and 18 in Indiana (722 MW), F.B. Culley Unit 2 in Indiana (90 MW), and Craig Unit 1 in Colorado (427 MW). Furthermore, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the operator of the Transalta Centralia Generating Station now plans to convert Unit 2 into a natural gas-fired facility rather than coal. This conversion is currently scheduled for 2028.
Plant operators at three other coal-fired power plants with a combined 2.2 GW of capacity also decided to delay retirements that were originally scheduled for 2025: Brandon Shores (Maryland), South Oak (Wisconsin), and Comanche (Colorado).
The DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report outlines how power outages could increase by 100 times in 2030 if the nation continues to take reliable power offline. The emergency conditions that led to the issuance of the original orders persist.
In January 2026, NERC released its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment. NERC assessed that the MISO region is at high risk of energy shortfalls over the next five years, stating that it faces significant reliability challenges as "projected resource additions do not keep pace with escalating demand forecasts and announced generator retirements."
Another factor impacting coal plant retirement schedules is Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule changes. Last week, the EPA announced that it is proposing a rule to revise wastewater limits, known as effluent limitations guidelines (ELG), for steam electric power plants. The rule is expected to help improve grid reliability and lower electricity prices while continuing to support clean and safe water resources. If finalized, the EPA’s proposal is estimated to reduce electricity generation costs by as much as $1.1 billion annually, which could provide cost-savings to American consumers.
The EPA states the agency is committed to protecting America’s water resources under the Clean Water Act and providing regulatory certainty for the power sector to continue utilizing domestically sourced coal while adapting to increasing demand.
The latest EPA proposed rule action follows efforts made in 2025 to support coal-fired electricity by extending several wastewater compliance deadlines for coal-fired power plants.
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UPLAN-NPM
The Locational Marginal Price Model (LMP) Network Power Model
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UPLAN-ACE
Day Ahead and Real Time Market Simulation
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UPLAN-G
The Gas Procurement and Competitive Analysis System
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PLATO
Database of Plants, Loads, Assets, Transmission...
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