Court says Trump's Michigan coal rescue order was illegal

Michigan's Campbell coal plant was supposed to close in May 2025. Instead, Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued six separate emergency orders keeping it running, each citing a grid emergency. A federal appeals court disagreed on Friday. It ruled Wright's first order had no real legal basis, and that the Department of Energy overstepped its authority.

The court's unanimous panel said DOE can't override a state-approved retirement plan just by declaring an emergency. Michigan's attorney general, Dana Nessel, says the ruling could undercut DOE's ability to keep issuing further such orders. That reasoning could also affect similar emergency orders DOE has used on coal plants elsewhere in the country.

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Does this actually shut Campbell down? Not yet. A later, sixth emergency order still requires the plant to run through November 14. Consumers Energy says it isn't closing the plant based on this ruling alone. The real test is whether DOE keeps issuing new emergency orders anyway, and whether courts start striking those down too.