Federal Emergency Orders Keep Colorado Coal Plant Running
Following emergency directives from President Donald Trump’s administration to keep a northwest Colorado coal plant operating beyond its scheduled shutdown, the facility has struggled forward, producing electricity for roughly three weeks overall this year. summitdaily.com reported that Craig Unit 1 was scheduled to shutter on January 1, nearly a half century after it first began generating power in 1980.
On the eve of the plant’s planned closure, U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order to keep the facility operational. Since Trump embarked upon his second term, his administration has put forth numerous directives mandating that Craig Unit 1, alongside six additional coal plants nationwide, remain functional despite scheduled shutdowns.
The administration has cited a nationwide energy emergency, including rising demand from artificial intelligence data centers and growing resource adequacy concerns. Emily Matthews, a deputy press secretary for the Department of Energy, defended the move in an email.
Prematurely shuttering coal plants raises electricity prices and can threaten grid reliability,
said Emily Matthews, adding that the orders to keep coal plants operational have prevented blackouts and saved lives.
Because Craig Unit 1 was out of service when its retirement was originally mandated, the facility’s five co-owners—Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp and Xcel Energy—have incurred millions of dollars in expenses to fulfill government mandates aimed at bringing the unit back online and sustaining its operation.
Utilities Challenge the Administration Order in Court
Legal challenges against the Trump administration’s directive have been filed by Tri-State and the Platte River Power Authority, who voice apprehensions that utilities will be forced to transfer the expenses of maintaining the plant’s functionality directly onto consumers. The Colorado Attorney General’s Office and environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice have also challenged the order.
Mark Stutz, a public relations specialist for Tri-State, noted that the lead owner never wanted the extension.
We had planned with the other owners of Craig Unit 1 to retire the plant at the end of 2025. That remains the position we wanted to do and still want to do,
said Mark Stutz. Tri-State does not have resource adequacy issues related to Craig 1 and it is still our contention it should have been retired at the end of 2025.
Leslie Coleman, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, warned that propping up aging coal plants will directly impact consumer energy bills. She called the orders unconscionable at a time when electricity rates are already climbing.
Federal Data Contradicts the Rationale for Keeping the Plant Open
Public data from the Department of Energy shows that Craig Unit 1 has only operated at about 3% of its capacity this year, producing small amounts of power for just a week or two at a time. During the short periods when it generated power, the unit also appeared to trigger emergency protocols by suddenly shutting off.
Eric Frankowski, executive director of the Western Clean Energy Campaign, stated that the federal data flatly contradicts the administration’s stated rationale for keeping the plant open.
It was a complete fabrication. There was no emergency,
said Eric Frankowski.
Federal data shows Unit 1 produced 56,782 megawatts of energy in April and 20,478 megawatts during July, totaling 77,260 megawatts for the year.
On September 11, a Washington, D.C., appeals court unanimously ruled against the Department of Energy, overturning an order that required the J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan to stay open. Despite that ruling, the Trump administration has continued to renew emergency orders for other facilities, leaving the Colorado litigation on hold.
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