Campbell Generating Plant
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Campbell Generating Plant is an operating power station of at least 1540-megawatts (MW) in West Olive, Ottawa, Michigan, United States. It is also known as JH Campbell power station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Campbell Generating Plant | West Olive, Ottawa, Michigan, United States | 42.910296, -86.20074 (exact) |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3: 42.910296, -86.20074
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year | Retired year | Emergency/Backup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: subbituminous[1] | 265 | subcritical | 1962 | 2026 (planned)[2] | False |
| Unit 2 | Operating | coal: bituminous[1] | 404 | supercritical | 1967 | 2026 (planned)[2] | False |
| Unit 3 | Operating | coal: bituminous[1] | 871 | subcritical | 1980 | 2026 (planned)[2] | False |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Consumers Energy Co [100%] | CMS Energy Corp [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Consumers Energy Co [100%] | CMS Energy Corp [100.0%] |
| Unit 3 | Consumers Energy Co [93%]; unknown [6%] | CMS Energy Corp [93.3%]; unknown [6.7%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): domestic
Unit Retirements
CMS Energy planned to retire two of the power station's coal-fired units by 2031, and the final third coal unit by 2040. The decision was part of the utility's pledge to eliminate the use of coal to generate electricity by 2040.[3]
In June 2021, Consumers Energy announced plans to speed up the retirement of all 3 units of the Campbell Generating Plant closure to 2025, pending approval by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC). Units 1 and 2 would close 6 years earlier and unit 3 would close 15 years earliers then previously planned.[4]
In June 2022, Consumer Energy's Integrated Resource Plan was approved by the MPSC.[5]
Department of Energy orders Campbell to stay online
In May 2025, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ordered the Campbell Generating Plant to stay open past its previously planned closure date at the end of the month and remain online at least until late August 2025. The DOE reportedly cited possible electricity shortages in the central U.S. as the reason for the delay. The Michigan Public Service Commission countered that there was “no existing energy emergency in either Michigan or MISO [Midcontinent Independent System Operator]” and that keeping the plant open was “unnecessary.” The owner of the plant, Consumers Energy, said it would comply with the order, which was set to expire on August 21, 2025.[6]
In June 2025, Michigan’s attorney general filed a request for rehearing with the DOE regarding its order to keep the Campbell coal plant open, arguing that it would impose “unnecessary costs” on ratepayers, generate avoidable pollution, and intrude on the powers of Michigan and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to regulate the electric grid.[7][8] A separate request for rehearing by the DOE was filed by a coalition of public interest groups, including Earthjustice, Sierra Club, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Michigan Environmental Council, Environmental Defense Fund, Vote Solar, Public Citizen, Union of Concerned Scientists, the Ecology Center, and Urban Core Collective.[9] After the DOE reportedly ignored the request for rehearing, in July 2025, the Michigan attorney general filed an appeal challenging the DOE’s order to keep the coal plant online. The petition claimed that the order was “arbitrary and illegal” and declared an “emergency without evidence.”[10][11]
According to reporting from July 2025, Consumers Energy had spent US$29 million in the first month of complying with the DOE’s order to keep the Campbell coal plant running past its planned retirement. The company said they would seek to recover the operating costs and expected costs to be shared by customers in the north and central MISO regions.[12]
In August 2025, the DOE issued a second emergency order directing the Campbell Generating Plant to stay open for another 90 days. The new order was set to expire on November 19, 2025.[13][14]
According to reporting from October 2025, coalitions of large industrial energy users and environmental groups were urging federal regulators to reject MISO’s proposed plan for recovering costs from operating the Campbell plant under the DOE emergency orders. The coalitions reportedly claimed that MISO’s cost recovery plan “fails to meet the ratemaking principle that parties pay for the costs that they cause.”[15] Later in October 2025, Consumers Energy reported that keeping the coal plant running past its planned retirement had cost at least US$80 million since May 2025. The company had previously estimated that retiring Campbell on schedule would save its customers US$30 million per year.[16]
In November 2025, Democratic members of Michigan’s House of Representatives brought a resolution urging the U.S. Energy Secretary to stop extending the order to keep the Campbell coal plant open.[17]
Later in November 2025, the DOE issued a third emergency order directing the Campbell Generating Plant to stay open until February 17, 2026.[18] In response, Michigan’s attorney general filed a motion to stop the DOE’s order, arguing that the latest order was based on outdated information from a prior winter reliability assessment report. The attorney general reportedly said that an updated report released hours before the DOE’s order showed sufficient electric generation for the MISO region.[19]
According to reporting from November 2025, the cost of keeping the Campbell plant operating since May had risen to US$113 million.[20]
As of May 2026, the DOE had continued renewing its emergency order to keep the Campbell coal plant open. The fifth order was set to expire on August 16, 2026.[21]
According to reporting from June 2026, Consumers Energy was seeking to recover US$180 million for the cost of running Campbell by charging customers in eleven states.[22]
In August 2026, the DOE again extended its order to keep the Campbell plant open. The sixth order was set to expire on November 14, 2026.[23] According to financial filings by Consumers Energy, the cost of operating the coal plant past its May 2025 planned retirement had risen to US$259 million.[24][25]
In September 2026, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the DOE had "exceeded its authority" by using emergency orders to keep the Campbell plant operating past its original planned retirement.[26][27][28]
Emissions Data
- 2024 Gross Load (MWh): 8,917,578[29]
- 2024 SO2 Mass (short tons): 5,424[29]
- 2024 CO2 Mass (short tons): 8,934,623[29]
- 2024 NOx Mass (short tons): 3,232[29]
- 2023 Mercury emissions (Hg, lb): 41.25[30][31]
Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Campbell Generating Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants.[32] Fine particle pollution consists of a complex mixture of soot, heavy metals, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Among these particles, the most dangerous are those less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, and pneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal plant emissions. These deaths and illnesses are major examples of coal's external costs, i.e. uncompensated harms inflicted upon the public at large. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities. To monetize the health impact of fine particle pollution from each coal plant, Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.[33]
Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Campbell Generating Plant
| Type of Impact | Annual Incidence | Valuation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 140 | $1,000,000,000 |
| Heart attacks | 230 | $25,000,000 |
| Asthma attacks | 2,300 | $120,000 |
| Hospital admissions | 100 | $2,400,000 |
| Chronic bronchitis | 86 | $38,000,000 |
| Asthma ER visits | 140 | $51,000 |
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://www.gem.wiki/Coal_source_methodology_for_the_Global_Coal_Plant_Tracker.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://wwmt.com/news/local/jh-campbell-coal-plant-closure-delay-emergency-order-stay-open-through-february-department-energy-secretary-chris-wright-midcontinent-independent-system-operator-miso-cost-western-michigan-infrastructure.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Last coal plant on the Saginaw Bay goes offline in 2023," M Live, June 13, 2018
- ↑ "CMS utility Consumers Energy accelerating Campbell coal-fired, Karn dual-fuel closures" Power-eng.com, June 24, 2021
- ↑ "MPSC Approves Settlement Moving Consumers Energy Beyond Coal in 2025" Earthjustice, June 23, 2022
- ↑ “Trump administration orders Michigan coal plant to stay open,” AP News, May 27, 2025
- ↑ “Michigan, environmental groups challenge federal order to keep coal plant open,” Power Engineering, June 20, 2025
- ↑ “Nessel challenges order to keep J.H. Campbell Plant open as energy experts predict price hikes,” Michigan Advance, June 20, 2025
- ↑ “Ten Groups Push Back Against Trump’s Illegal Campbell Plant Extension,” Earthjustice, June 18, 2025
- ↑ “AG challenges order keeping JH Campbell plant online,” WoodTV, July 25, 2025
- ↑ “Attorney General files appeal against federal mandate on coal plant operation,” Great Lakes Wire, July 29, 2025
- ↑ “Consumers Energy spends millions keeping coal plant open per fed order,” The Detroit News, July 31, 2025
- ↑ “DOE extends order to delay retiring Consumers’ Michigan coal plant,” Utility Dive, August 21, 2025
- ↑ “Trump Administration Prolongs Illegal, Costly Coal Plant Extension,” Sierra Club, August 21, 2025
- ↑ “Groups challenge MISO cost allocation plan for coal power plant,” Utility Dive, October 7, 2025
- ↑ “Trump’s Order to Keep Michigan Coal Plant Running Has Cost $80 Million So Far,” Inside Climate News, October 31, 2025
- ↑ “House Dems resolution demands feds stop extending operations for a West Michigan coal plant,” Michigan Advance, November 17, 2025
- ↑ “J.H. Campbell plant to stay open until February by federal order; third closure delay,” WWMT, November 20, 2025
- ↑ “AG Nessel challenges Trump administration’s third federal order keeping coal plant operational,” mLive.com, November 20, 2025
- ↑ “Trump order to keep Michigan power plant open costs taxpayers $113m,” The Guardian, November 28, 2025
- ↑ “Feds renew order to keep J.H. Campbell coal plant open,” Michigan Public, May 18, 2026
- ↑ "Montana energy customers might pay for out-of-state coal extensions," Public News Service, June 1, 2026
- ↑ “Michigan coal power plant, set to close more than a year ago, is again ordered to keep running,” Michigan Public, August 14, 2026
- ↑ “Michigan coal plant costs balloon to $259 million, as Trump administration orders sixth unlawful extension past retirement,” Environmental Defense Fund, August 17, 2026
- ↑ “Form 10-Q - Quarterly Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(D) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the Quarterly Period Ended June 30, 2026,” Consumers Energy Company, July 28, 2026
- ↑ “VICTORY: Court Rules Against Trump’s Michigan Coal Bailout,” Sierra Club, September 11, 2026
- ↑ “Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open,” The Guardian, September 11, 2026
- ↑ “Trump Administration Loses First Court Case Challenging DOE Orders for Coal Plants,” Earthjustice, September 11, 2026
- ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 EIA (2024). "Clean Air Markets Program Data (CAMD)". Retrieved 2025-02-20.
- ↑ Clean Air and Power Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (February 2024). "Annual data 2022 vs. 2023". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ Toxics Release Inventory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (October 2024). "2023 Basic Plus Data". Retrieved 2025-03-04.
- ↑ "The Toll from Coal: An Updated Assessment of Death and Disease from America's Dirtiest Energy Source," Clean Air Task Force, September 2010.
- ↑ "Technical Support Document for the Powerplant Impact Estimator Software Tool," Prepared for the Clean Air Task Force by Abt Associates, July 2010
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
