DOE coal-plant orders yield mixed results

Only half of the eight US coal-fired power plant units that energy secretary Chris Wright ordered to continue operating this winter actually dispatched appreciable amounts of electricity to the grid.

In January, four of the eight coal units the Department of Energy (DOE) ordered to stay open under section 202 (c) of the Federal Power Act had net positive generation, according to power plant operating data recently released by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Two other units consumed more power than they dispatched, while another two did not dispatch any generation during the month.

Citing an energy emergency, Wright pointed to concerns about grid reliability in ordering the eight coal units and another two units that run on natural gas and oil to stay open instead of retiring as planned in 2025.

Wright then extended the emergency orders for these units when the directives expired, pointing to the same concerns. But some politicians and environmental and consumer groups have disputed Wright's claims grid operators faced potential emergencies.

Data from the EIA show that two units at the first coal plant DOE ordered to stay open last year — Consumers Energy's JH Campbell plant in Michigan — dispatched power every month following the department's initial order on 23 May 2025. Another unit at the plant had net generation in June-October as well as December but consumed more energy than it dispatched in November 2025 and in January 2026.

Unit 17 of NiSource's RM Schahfer plant and unit 2 of Centerpoint Energy's FB Culley plant, both of which were initially issued emergency orders in December and had them extended on 23 March, also generated power in January. But Schahfer unit 18, which also is subject to the order, had net -3,705MWh on generation in January.

DOE's recent orders keeping retiring plant units open have required the plant units be available for dispatch when needed. But that did not mean that they had to generate power at other times.

With the exceptions of storms in late-January and early February, the weather in the US most of this past winter was relatively mild. Constellation Power said it operated Eddystone units 3 and 4, which run on natural gas and oil and have been subject to DOE orders since 30 May 2025, during hot weather at the end of June and end of July and during winter storm conditions and colder than normal weather 26-29 January.

Extending operations at the last minute can be complicated by fuel availability and other factors.

Of the two coal units under emergency orders that did not dispatch any power in January according to EIA, Tri-State Generation & Transmission's Craig unit 1 ,was taken out of service in mid-December because of a mechanical failure, while TransAlta's Centralia plant was put in "cold-shutdown" in early December. DOE issued emergency orders to both units at the end of December, shortly before they were scheduled to retire. The agency extended the order for the Craig unit on 30 March and the order for Centralia on 16 March.

DOE last year also issued an order allowing Talen Energy to run unit 4 of the HA Wagner oil-fired plant in excess of emissions limits if needed for reliability, but that order expired at the end of 2025. Talen expects to operate Wagner units 3 and 4 until 31 May 2029.

By Courtney Schlisserman