U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order aimed at maintaining electricity reliability in the Midwest as winter approaches. The directive requires the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), working with Consumers Energy, to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan available for operation through the winter months. The plant was originally scheduled to close on May 31, 2025, which is 15 years before its planned design life ends.
“Because of the last administration’s dangerous energy subtraction policies targeting reliable and affordable energy sources, the United States continues to face an energy emergency,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “The Trump administration will keep taking action to reverse these energy subtraction policies, lowering energy costs and minimizing the risks of blackouts. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable and secure energy regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining, especially in dangerously cold weather.”
Since a previous Department of Energy (DOE) order on May 23, 2025, the Campbell plant has played a key role in MISO’s grid operations by running during times of high demand and low output from intermittent sources. Another DOE order was issued on August 20, 2025.
According to DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, if reliable power continues to be removed from service nationwide, power outages could increase by up to 100 times by 2030. Emergency conditions that prompted earlier orders remain ongoing.
Recent studies have indicated persistent risks for MISO’s coverage area during winter months. Both the NERC Winter Reliability Assessment for 2024–2025 and for 2023–2024 rated MISO as having an elevated risk due to potential shortages in operating reserves under above-normal conditions.
The new emergency order will be effective from November 19, 2025 until February 17, 2026.
In April 2025, MISO released its Planning Resource Auction Results for the upcoming planning year. These results showed that northern and central zones—including Michigan—did not add enough new capacity to balance out losses caused by decreased accreditation and retirements of resources.
MISO’s resource adequacy challenges are present throughout all seasons—not just summer. In response to changing reliability concerns, MISO sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late 2021 to modify its capacity requirements so they would apply year-round instead of being based only on peak summer demand—a change FERC approved in August 2022.
MISO explained that “Reliability risks associated with Resource Adequacy have shifted from ‘Summer only’ to a year-round concern.”
