U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has issued an emergency order aimed at reducing the risk of power outages and addressing grid security concerns in the Midwest. The order, announced in Washington, directs the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) to work with Consumers Energy to keep the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant in West Olive, Michigan available for operation. MISO is also instructed to minimize costs for consumers.
The Department of Energy’s original order was issued on May 23. Since then, the Campbell plant has played a key role during times of high energy demand and low output from intermittent sources like wind and solar. The plant had been scheduled for shutdown on May 31, well before reaching its designed lifespan.
“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.”
According to DOE’s Grid Reliability Evaluation, if dependable power sources are removed from service, outages could become much more frequent—potentially increasing by a factor of 100 by 2030.
The new emergency order will remain in effect from August 21 through November 19, 2025.
Recent assessments highlight ongoing reliability challenges facing MISO throughout the year—not just during summer months. In 2022, MISO sought approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to change its resource adequacy rules so that capacity requirements would be set seasonally instead of only for peak summer periods (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search). FERC approved this request on August 31, 2022 (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/search).
In its request to FERC, MISO stated that reliability risks now extend across all seasons rather than being limited to summer alone.
NOAA’s seasonal outlooks earlier this year predicted higher-than-normal temperatures in parts of the Midwest for summer 2025—a trend that was later increased as conditions developed.
