Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is mulling another lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, this time over an order delaying the planned closure of an Ottawa County coal power plant.

Nessel told The Detroit News in an interview at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference that the “unprecedented” order stems from a “fabricated emergency,” alleging it infringes on Consumers Energy’s plans to shutter the facility.

The closure is motivated in large part by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s climate goals, which demand the state’s monopoly utilities move to 100% “clean energy” sources by 2040.

“If we believe in capitalism, if we believe in the free market, then how can people be OK with having a federal government who gets to dictate all of the decisions that are made by companies around the United States?” Nessel questioned.

The AG said her office is currently discussing whether to sue the Trump administration over the order.

“This is undermining a business decision that was made many years ago,” Nessel said of the plans developed by Consumers in 2021 to shut down Consumers’ J.H. Campbell plant in West Olive. “To me, this is unprecedented.”

Trump issued an executive order in April to “increase domestic energy production, including coal,” making good on a key campaign promise that helped propel him to a second term.

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On Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered the plant to remain in operation through at least Aug. 21, citing the need for “additional dispatch of the Campbell Plant” beyond its planned May 31 shutdown.

“This determination is based on the insufficiency of dispatchable capacity and anticipated demand during the summer months, and the potential loss of power to homes and local businesses in the areas that may be affected by curtailments or outages, presenting a risk to public health and safety,” according to the order cited by The News.

The Campbell Plant has the capacity to generate 1,450 megawatts of electricity, or enough for about 1 million residents, The Associated Press reports.

“They have to operate an outdated coal plant that was in the process of being decommissioned, because the president is making them? How does that happen? How does that work?” Nessel asked The News.

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While Consumers Energy spokeswoman Katie Carey told the news site the company is certain it can meet energy demand without the Campbell Plant, she said Consumers will comply with the order.

The situation unfolds as Nessel faces increased scrutiny from state House Republicans over how she operates her office, pursues numerous lawsuits against Trump administration policies, and works to sue the fossil fuel industry for “billions of dollars in losses” tied to the changing climate.

In late April, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against Nessel, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and the state over an “extraordinary extraterritorial reach” into U.S. policy on greenhouse gas regulation, arguing Nessel’s threatened lawsuit would raise energy costs and disrupt the nation’s fossil fuel production.

Others, including regional grid operators and federal regulators, are warning it could be lights out in Michigan by 2032 if states continue to pursue net zero carbon emissions plans.

“The problem is the subtraction of dispatchable resources such as coal and gas,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Mark Christie told Congress. “The core of the problem is actually very simple. We are retiring dispatchable (quickly launched) generating resources (coal and natural gas) at a pace and in an amount that is far too fast and far too great and is threatening our ability to keep the lights on.”

Christie mused: “Are the lights going to stay on? We’re really at a point where that’s coming into serious question.”

Shorting the Great Lakes Grid, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy report from research analyst Joshua Antonini and Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy, provides an answer that nobody wants to hear and few are paying attention to.

“The Midcontinent Independent Systems Operator, the grid operator for much of the Midwest, projects that by 2032, none of the five Great Lakes states in its territory will have enough electricity capacity to meet even the most conservative projection of demand load,” according to the executive summary.

“The main element of net-zero plans is to build massive amounts of new wind and solar generation. Despite these additions, MISO expects overall grid capacity to decrease,” researchers wrote. “That’s because states and utilities are simultaneously closing coal plants and some natural gas and nuclear facilities. How much electricity wind and solar generate, however, depends on the weather, so reliability will suffer.”

The report breaks down the situation in seven states, providing a profile on climate plans and examining the current and future states of energy generation for 38 major utilities, and the state as a whole.

“If MISO’s information is accurate, Michigan will face broad electricity generation shortfalls by 2027 and ever larger deficits by 2032 and 2042,” according to the report.