U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced on Mar. 30 that the Trump administration has issued an emergency order to keep Unit 1 at the Craig Station coal plant in Colorado operational beyond its planned closure at the end of 2025. The directive, which takes effect from March 31 through June 28, 2026, aims to ensure Americans continue to have access to affordable and reliable electricity.
The decision comes as part of ongoing efforts by the administration to maintain energy security and prevent potential blackouts that could result from removing critical generation sources from service. “The last administration’s energy subtraction policies threatened America’s energy security and positioned our nation to likely experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years—thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” Wright said. “The Trump Administration will continue taking action to ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power their homes all the time, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
According to DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, projections indicated that blackouts could increase one hundredfold by 2030 if reliable power continued being taken offline as during previous policies; a similar warning was issued by NERC in its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment regarding increased risks due to reliance on weather-dependent resources and reduced fuel diversity.
As part of this order, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State), Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp, Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy), along with Western Area Power Administration Rocky Mountain Region and Southwest Power Pool (SPP), are directed to take all necessary measures so Unit 1 remains available for operation. On April 1, when Tri-State and WAPA Rocky Mountain Region join SPP RTO West expansion, SPP is instructed to use economic dispatch methods aimed at minimizing costs for ratepayers.
Meanwhile, other initiatives within the Department of Energy under different administrations have focused on clean energy transitions: In July 2022 a $225 million program was launched for building resilient and efficient codes funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law according to DOE. U.S. Secretary Jennifer Granholm also called upon international cooperation toward clean energy during a video released in July as shown here. Technology development remains central in cleanup missions involving national laboratories according to testimony before Congress, while passive processes are being used at former coal-fired plants like Savannah River Site for environmental remediation as reported by DOE Office of Environmental Management.
DOE has also invested $96 million into advancing clean vehicle technologies such as expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure according to an announcement made in July. Additionally, there are now over one hundred programs supporting President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative aimed at directing federal investments toward disadvantaged communities according to DOE.
Wright said more than seventeen gigawatts of coal-power generation were saved nationwide in 2025 thanks largely to recent policy changes.
