U.S. Secretary of Energy Renews Emergency Order to Address Critical Grid Reliability Issues in the Midwestern Region

The U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright has renewed an emergency order to address critical grid reliability issues facing the Midwestern region of the United States.

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 will take all steps necessary to remain available to operate and to employ economic dispatch to minimize costs for the American people. The plant was originally scheduled to close on May 31, 2025, 15 years before the end of its scheduled design life.

“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,” Secretary Wright said. “This emergency order will mitigate the risk of blackouts and maintain affordable, reliable, and secure electricity access across the region.”

The plant stabilized the grid during the recent winter storms and operated at over 650 MW every day before as well as during Winter Storm Fern, January 21-February 1. Due to President Trump’s leadership, coal plants across the country are reversing plans to shut down.

In 2025, more than 17 GW of coal-powered electricity generation were saved before Winter Storm Fern.

Since the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original order issued on May 23, 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 on August 20, 2025 and November 18, 2025.

As outlined in DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, power outages are anticipated to increase by 100 times in 2030 if the U.S. continues to take reliable power offline. The emergency conditions that led to the issuance of the original orders persist.

Two recent winter studies (2024 – 2025 NERC Winter Reliability Assessment and the 2023 – 2024 NERC Winter Reliability Assessment) have assessed that the MISO assessment area as an elevated risk, with the potential for insufficient operating reserves in above-normal conditions. NERC’s 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment warns that the continuing shift in the resource mix toward weather-dependent resources and less fuel diversity increases risks of supply shortfalls during winter months.

This order is in effect beginning on February 17, 2026, and continuing through May 18, 2026.