Legal Planet iconLegal PlanetSep 14, 2026

The Rise and Fall of an Energy Emergency

According to the Department of Energy, decrepit coal-fired power plants had to be kept open to avoid "unacceptable reliability risks within five years" unless something changed. You could be forgiven for thinking that calling this hypothetical situation an emergency was something of a stretch.

The Rise and Fall of an Energy Emergency

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According to the Department of Energy, decrepit coal-fired power plants had to be kept open to avoid "unacceptable reliability risks within five years" unless something changed.

You could be forgiven for thinking that calling this hypothetical situation an emergency was something of a stretch.

Circuit in a Michigan case involving a coal plant that seemingly everyone except Trump wanted to close.

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The useful part

According to the Department of Energy, decrepit coal-fired power plants had to be kept open to avoid "unacceptable reliability risks within five years" unless something changed. You could be forgiven for thinking that calling this hypothetical situation an emergency was something of a stretch. Circuit in a Michigan case involving a coal plant that seemingly everyone except Trump wanted to close.

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  • The statute clearly didn't give DOE anything like the authority to take over the power system that it was claiming.

Details worth keeping

The opinion avoids directly calling out the government's abuse of power. Instead, it keeps focused on basic issues of statutory interpretation.

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