Trump Administration Once Again Mandates Continued Operation of Costly, Unreliable and Highly-Polluting Colorado Coal Plant

(WASHINGTON – March 31, 2026) The Trump administration issued a second illegal emergency order mandating Unit 1 of the Craig coal plant – a highly-polluting, aging facility that was commissioned over 45 years ago – to operate for an additional 90 days past its original planned retirement date at the end of 2025. The order will add to the multimillion-dollar costs of keeping the coal plant online, which will continue to be passed on directly to families and businesses. Yet the owners of the Craig unit recently said that it hasn’t been called upon to produce electricity over the duration of the first emergency order, undermining the administration’s claims that the plant is needed to meet emergency needs.

According to analysis from Grid Strategies, the cost of keeping the Craig unit operational for the last 90 days is at least $20 million, and the costs could balloon to $85 million if it’s kept online for a full year. When it was first forced to delay retirement, the unit suffered a costly mechanical failure that kept it offline until late January. The owners of the plant have made clear that ratepayers are ultimately going to pay the cost of compliance with these orders, stating, “members and customers must pay those costs even though neither Tri-State nor Platte River are experiencing these shortages.” Both owners are challenging the Department of Energy’s order, saying there is no emergency, and that the mandate violates their Constitutional rights by effectively taking private property.

“Colorado families are being forced to bankroll a failing coal plant that even its owners say isn’t needed,” said Tomás Carbonell, Distinguished Counsel & AVP, U.S. Legal and Regulatory at Environmental Defense Fund.

“If this old coal plant is doing nothing but incurring costly repairs and there is plenty of power on the grid, then why is the Trump administration mandating that it stay online? This illegal order is just a wasteful charade that burdens families and businesses already facing rising electricity bills. Colorado and the broader region have plenty of affordable, reliable and clean energy options, thanks to careful state and local planning.”

In addition to the Craig unit, other coal plants targeted by these mandates have either broken down or haven’t produced electricity when they were supposedly most needed. One of the Indiana coal units, which the administration ordered to keep operating last December, has been broken down since July of last year. The J.H. Campbell coal plant in Michigan, which has been operating under such emergency orders since May 2025, was partially shut down last summer. And the Centralia coal plant in Washington hasn’t been running at all because there have been plentiful hydropower resources. However, the Trump administration has re-extended the orders for all five coal plants anyway, despite the high costs of keeping these old, unreliable plants operational – costs which ultimately fall on ratepayers.

Last week, public interest groups, including EDF, filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Craig order, saying DOE exceeded its authority in overriding utility and state decisions to retire the Craig unit and failed to show evidence of an “emergency.” The State of Colorado also challenged the order. Public interest groups have challenged orders delaying coal plant retirements in Washington, Michigan and Indiana as well.