Trump administration keeps coal plants open in Colorado, Indiana
Trump Administration Keeps Colorado Coal Plant Open to Ensure Affordable, Reliable and Secure Power in Colorado
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today issued an emergency order to keep a Colorado coal plant operational to ensure Americans maintain access to affordable, reliable and secure electricity.
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today issued an emergency order to keep a Colorado coal plant operational to ensure Americans maintain access to affordable, reliable and secure electricity. The order directs Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association (Tri-State), Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, PacifiCorp, and Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy), in coordination with the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Rocky Mountain Region and Southwest Power Pool (SPP), to take all measures necessary to ensure that Unit 1 at the Craig Station in Craig, Colorado is available to operate. Unit One of the coal plant was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2025 but on December 30, 2025, Secretary Wright issued an emergency order directing Tri-State and the co-owners to ensure that Unit 1 at the Craig Station remains available to operate.
“The last administration’s energy subtraction policies threatened America’s energy security and positioned our nation to likely experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years—thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “The Trump Administration will continue taking action to ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power their homes all the time, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, coal plants across the country are reversing plans to shut down. In 2025, more than 17 gigawatts (GW) of coal-power electricity generation were saved.
On April 1, once Tri-State and the WAPA Rocky Mountain Region join the SPP RTO West expansion, SPP is directed to take every step to employ economic dispatch to minimize costs to ratepayers.
According to DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, blackouts were on track to potentially increase 100 times by 2030 if the U.S. continued to take reliable power offline as it did during the Biden administration. NERC cautioned in its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment that “the continuing shift in the resource mix toward weather-dependent resources and less fuel diversity increases risks of supply shortfalls during winter months.”
This order is in effect beginning on March 31, 2026, through June 28, 2026.
Trump Administration Keeps Indiana Coal Plants Open to Ensure Affordable, Reliable and Secure Power in the Midwest
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today issued emergency orders to keep two Indiana coal plants operational to ensure Americans in the Midwest region of the United States have continued access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity.
Emergency orders address critical grid reliability issues, lowering risk of blackouts and ensuring affordable electricity access
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright today issued emergency orders to keep two Indiana coal plants operational to ensure Americans in the Midwest region of the United States have continued access to affordable, reliable, and secure electricity. The orders direct the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), CenterPoint Energy, and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) to take all measures necessary to ensure specified generation units at both the R.M. Schahfer and F.B. Culley generating stations in Indiana are available to operate. Certain generation units at the coal plants were scheduled to shut down at the end of 2025. The orders prioritize minimizing electricity costs for the American people and minimizing the risk and costs of blackouts.
“The last administration’s energy subtraction policies had the United States on track to likely experience significantly more blackouts in the coming years—thankfully, President Trump won’t let that happen,” said Energy Secretary Wright. “The Trump Administration will continue taking action to keep America’s coal plants running to ensure we don’t lose critical generation sources. Americans deserve access to affordable, reliable, and secure energy to power their homes all the time, regardless of whether the wind is blowing or the sun is shining.”
The reliable supply of power from these two coal plants was essential in powering the grid during recent extreme winter weather. From January 23–February 1, Schahfer operated at over 285 megawatts (MW) every day and Culley operated at approximately 30 MW almost every day. These operations serve as a reminder that allowing reliable generation to go offline would unnecessarily contribute to grid reliability risks.
Since the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original orders were issued on December 23, 2025, the coal plants have proven critical to MISO’s operations, operating during periods of high energy demand and low levels of intermittent energy production.
As outlined in DOE’s Resource Adequacy Report, power outages could increase by 100 times in 2030 if the U.S. continues to take reliable power offline. The emergency conditions that led to the issuance of the original orders persist.
MISO’s service area will continue to face emergency conditions both in the near and long term. NERC cautioned in its 2025 Long-Term Reliability Assessment that “the continuing shift in the resource mix toward weather-dependent resources and less fuel diversity increases risks of supply shortfalls during winter months.”
These orders are in effect beginning on March 24, 2026, through June 21, 2026.