Despite risks of blackouts and critical grid security issues, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC to block an order to keep the Consumers Energy power plant in West Olive open for another 90 days.
Nessel last month filed a request for a rehearing over the U.S. Department of Energy’s emergency order in May requiring Consumers Energy’s J.H. Campbell Power Plant in West Olive to remain open for 90 days beyond a planned closure.
The order cited the need to “minimize the risk of blackouts and address critical grid security issues” in the region during “the high electricity demand expected this summer,” according to the Holland Sentinel.
The DOE did not respond to Nessel’s request for a rehearing, which was supported by numerous environmental groups including Sierra Club, Earthjustice and the Environmental Defense Fund.
On Thursday, Nessel filed a petition for review of the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit that challenges the DOE order as “arbitrary and illegal” because it was crafted “under the pretense of a fabricated energy emergency,” according to the AG.
The filing follows numerous warnings from energy experts, federal regulators, and grid operators that warn of the consequences of net zero climate plans in multiple states.
