U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order aimed at minimizing the risk of power outages and addressing grid security concerns in the Midwest. The directive instructs 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. MISO is also required to take steps to reduce costs for consumers.
The Campbell plant, which was scheduled for shutdown on May 31—15 years before its planned design life—has played a key role in supporting MISO’s operations since a Department of Energy (DOE) order was first issued on May 23. The plant has been operating during periods of high demand and when intermittent energy sources have produced less electricity.
“The United States continues to face an energy emergency, with some regions experiencing more capacity constraints than others. With electricity demand increasing, we must put an end to the dangerous energy subtraction policies embraced by politicians for too long,” said U.S.Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. “This order will help ensure millions of Americans can continue to access affordable, reliable, and secure baseload power regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
DOE’s Grid Reliability Evaluation indicates that if reliable power sources are taken offline, outages could become up to 100 times more frequent by 2030. The emergency conditions that prompted the original DOE order remain present.
The current order will be effective from August 21 through November 19, 2025.
According to a May 2025 assessment by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), NOAA estimated in April that parts of the Midwest had a one-in-three chance or higher of seeing above-normal temperatures this summer; NOAA later raised those odds to as much as one-in-two in June.
MISO’s challenges regarding resource adequacy extend beyond just summer months. In 2022, MISO sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to revise its system so that capacity requirements would be set for each season rather than only annually based on peak summer demand (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20211130-5167). FERC approved this request in August 2022 (https://www.ferc.gov/news-events/news/ferc-approves-miso-seasonal-resource-adequacy-reforms).
In its filing with FERC, MISO stated: “Reliability risks associated with Resource Adequacy have shifted from ‘Summer only’ to a year-round concern.”
