On December 30, 2025, the Department of Energy ordered a coal-fired power plant in Northwestern Colorado to continue operating, citing an energy emergency under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act. The agency claimed that there were concerns about increased demand for energy and strains on the power grid.
Four months later, that plant, Craig Unit 1, is still in operation, despite the protests of the utilities that own and operate it, as well as the state of Colorado.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association and the Platte River Power Authority provide power to customers across southwestern Colorado and the Front Range. For nearly a decade, they had been planning to sunset Craig 1, located in Moffat County, at the end of 2025, due to Colorado's green energy goals and the costs of running a coal-fired plant. In January, the two utilities submitted what's called a "request for rehearing" to the DOE, asking them to reconsider their decision.
"We have planned for the retirement of this resource for over a decade and have proactively replaced the capacity and energy from new sources," wrote Jason Frisbie, general manager and CEO of Platte River in a statement. "While Platte River will continue to comply with federal law, we disagree with the need to keep the plant open."
In March, Colorado and the utilities' requests for rehearing were effectively denied, as too much time had elapsed between the requests being received and the agency responding.
Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental legal organization, contends there's no evidence that the Craig 1 plant was needed to prevent imminent shutoffs in the Mountain West.
Leslie Coleman, senior attorney at Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office, said that in the DOE's orders, the agency cites some studies by entities that regulate the grid. But, she said, those studies don't show any emergency in the Rocky Mountain region, and regulators expect normal grid conditions in the region for the next decade.
"Having combed through the record and looked at all of the evidence that DOE cites, we don't see any basis for the claim of an energy emergency," she said. "All the evidence to us indicates that grid reliability has been carefully studied and assessed, and there's absolutely no reason to think that Craig is needed to meet any sort of shortage or sudden increase in demand for electricity."
Coleman also pointed to the fact that the plant was in a forced shutdown in December, just days before it was set to permanently go offline.
"The utilities had to spend a lot of money just to get this plant back into operable status when it's not even needed to address any sort of energy emergency," she said. "And so those costs: someone has to pay them, and they're likely going to get passed onto people who pay electricity bills."
"As not-for-profit entities, we face issues that other utilities do not, because it is our members that ultimately are going to pay for the cost of this order," wrote Tri-State CEO Duane Highley in the utilities' joint January statement.
Earthjustice also says the DOE's use of section 202(c) of the Federal Powers Act in this case is illegal.
"What it's been used for is when we have an imminent crisis that demands immediate action, such as a hurricane or extreme weather occurring, (so) that the federal government can move quickly to help address that and keep the lights on," explained Michael Lenoff, senior attorney in Earthjustice's clean energy program. "That's how it's been used for a long time. This Trump administration has gone far beyond the usages of section 202(c) to advance its policy preferences of maintaining coal plants that have been slated to retire for economic reasons."
Lenoff said in addition to the environmental harms it causes, coal isn't economic, and can't compete in today's diversified energy market.
"It's expensive, and so coal plant owners have decided to retire those plants," he said. "And this Trump administration and its Department of Energy doesn't like that, and is using a variety of tools at its disposal, including section 202(c) unlawfully, in order to advance its policy preferences."
The DOE has issued similar 202(c) emergency orders to coal plants in Michigan, Indiana, and Washington state.
According to filings submitted to the state of Michigan, it cost Consumers Energy about $600,000 a day, or a total of $135 million, to keep the coal-fired plant open—which Coleman said will likely be passed onto rate-paying customers. In Colorado, Earthjustice estimates that it will cost over $85 million a year to keep Craig 1 in operation.
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