DOE emergency orders keep aging power plants open, but most produce less electricity than before
By
Ethan Howland
Summary
The U.S. Department of Energy issued emergency orders in 2024 requiring six power plants (five coal-fired) to delay their retirements to address grid reliability concerns. However, the impact has been underwhelming: one plant hasn't operated at all under the order, one ran briefly, three are producing less power than previous years, and one is now offline for repairs. Two plants produced zero electricity in Q1 2026, raising questions about the effectiveness of using emergency orders to prop up aging fossil fuel infrastructure.
Source
bskyDOE emergency orders keep aging power plants open, but most produce less electricity than beforeutilitydive.comKey quotes
· 3 pulledOne power plant hasn't operated at all under its 202(c) order, one ran for a two-week stretch, three are producing less power than they did at the same time in previous years and one is generating electricity at lower levels.
Two of them produced zero electricity in the first quarter in 2026, and another one is now offline for repairs.
The Department of Energy ordered the owners of 10 generating units at six power plants — five of them coal-fired — to run the units past their retirement dates to address what DOE says is a reliability emergency across most of the country's grid.
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