The U.S. Department of Energy – U.S. DOE has gone on to issue an emergency order to keep Unit 1 of the 1.43 GW Craig Station coal-fired power plant located at Craig, Colorado, operational so as to support electricity supply throughout the winter period.
The instruction applies to the operator, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association of the plant, and also its co-owners, Platte River Power Authority, Salt River Project, and PacifiCorp. and also Xcel Energy.
It also needs coordination along with the Western Area Power Administration – Rocky Mountain Region as well as Southwest Power Pool West.
As per the DOE, the organizations are needed to take the steps required to make sure that the unit can operate. Unit 1, which went on to enter into service in 1980, was due to wind up its operations at the end of 2025. The coal-fired power plant has a couple more units, 2 and 3, that apparently are both scheduled to retire in September 2028. Unit 1 as well as Unit 2 has a power generation capacity of around 446.4 MW each, whereas Unit 3 has a capacity of 534.8 MW.
The stated purpose of the order by the DoE is to maintain the grid stability within the region, decrease any likelihood as well as consequences in terms of power interruptions, and also minimize the cost of electricity for consumers. In reference to the Resource Adequacy Report from the DOE, the outages could grow by almost 100 times in 2030 if the dependable generation gets retired.
Notably, the directive came into effect on 30 December 2025 and runs till 30 March 2026.
Chris Wright, the US Energy Secretary, said that on day one, President Trump went on to declare an energy emergency and also directed the government to go ahead and reverse the dangerous energy subtraction policies of the erstwhile administration.
Keeping this coal plant online is going to ensure that Americans go on to maintain an affordable, dependable, and also secure supply when it comes to electricity. The Trump Administration is indeed committed towards lowering the energy costs and also keeping the American families safe, Wright added.
It was in August 2025 that the DOE went on to renew an emergency order so as to keep the JH Campbell coal-fired plant based out of West Olive, Michigan, ready to function, thereby extending the timeframe from 21 August 2025 to 19 November 2025.
Issued to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator – MISO, the measure went on to be intended to address the regional grid security issues and also decrease the risk of outages throughout the Midwest.
Since the original instruction by the DOE in May 2025, the Campbell plant had gone ahead and supported MISO when it came to covering peak demand, especially when electricity from the intermittent sources was pretty limited.