On Tuesday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued a familiar order: Due to a proposed energy emergency, a coal-fired power plant slated for closure will be forced to remain open. This time the order concerned one of three power units located at the Craig station in Colorado, which was scheduled to close at the end of this year. The remaining two power units are expected to close in 2028.
Alleged cause this order an emergency situation caused by a lack of generating capacity. “A reliable coal-fired power supply is essential to maintaining the stability of the region’s electrical grid,” the Department of Energy said in a statement. More notes Colorado Sun that the Colorado Public Utilities Commission has already analyzed the impacts of a possible closure and determined, “Craig Unit 1 is not required for reliability or resource adequacy purposes.”
The order does not require the plant to actually produce electricity; instead, he is ordered to be available in case of production shortages. As the Colorado Sun article notes, the actual operation of the plant could potentially violate Colorado laws that regulate air pollution and set limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of maintaining the plant will most likely fall on the shoulders of local taxpayers, who already adjusted to closure plans.
The use of emergency powers by the Department of Energy is authorized under Federal Power Lawallowing it to order temporary generation or infrastructure connections when the U.S. is at war or when “an emergency exists due to a sudden increase in electricity demand or power shortage.” It is not at all clear that DOE's current justification is consistent with this “we expect demand to increase in the future” definition of an emergency. It's also difficult to see how the use of coal-fired power plants fits into other restrictions placed on the use of these emergency orders:
