It’s not just environmental groups and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser challenging a Trump administration order to keep an aging coal-fired power plant running in northwest Colorado.
Utilities and power providers operating Craig Unit 1 also want the facility shut down.
In a petition filed on Thursday, Tri-State Generation and Transmission and Platte River Power Authority argue there is no justification for the “emergency” order issued by the U.S. Department of Energy a day before the plant’s scheduled retirement at the end of 2025. It also claims the decision violates their constitutional property rights and will inevitably increase the cost for ratepayers — unless the federal government directly pays to keep the plant running.
“We have planned for the retirement of this resource for over a decade and have proactively replaced the capacity and energy from new sources,” Jason Frisbie, general manager and CEO of Platte River Power Authority, said in a press release published Thursday. “We disagree with the need to keep the plant open.”
The petition asks the DOE to hold a formal hearing to reconsider the emergency order. If the federal government doesn’t reply within 30 days, the utilities could file a lawsuit.
Tri-State, a nonprofit electric cooperative, operates the power plant on behalf of utilities like Platte River, which provides energy to northern Colorado communities, including Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park. The order requires the power plant to stay open until March 30, but the federal government can renew it indefinitely.
The petition also marks a new type of resistance to the Trump administration’s efforts to buoy the fossil fuel industry. States and environmental organizations have filed legal challenges to oppose recent federal orders to stop coal plant closures. The petition filed by Tri-State and Platte River marks the first time utilities have taken similar legal action, according to Perry Wheeler, a spokesperson for Earthjustice, an environmental advocacy group.
On Wednesday, a coalition of environmental groups, including Earthjustice, filed a separate petition challenging the order keeping Craig 1 open. On the same day, Weiser submitted another challenge, saying there’s “no evidence of an emergency” that would require keeping Craig Unit 1 open.
An analysis commissioned by the Sierra Club found it could cost around $85 million annually to keep Craig 1 operating at its average output levels. As a nonprofit utility, Tri-State has warned that utilities buying its power would likely have to raise energy bills to cover any additional costs.
Craig Unit 1 opened in 1980 as part of the larger, three-unit Craig Generating Station in Moffat County. The towering facility was scheduled to ramp down operations with the closure of Craig Unit 1 in 2025, followed by Unit 2 and Unit 3 at the end of 2028.
Since retaking office, Trump’s DOE has intervened to keep coal and natural gas power plants running in Colorado and five other states, arguing that the facilities are necessary to maintain a reliable grid as data centers and other users drive rising electricity demand.
Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act gives the federal government broad authority to intervene in power plant operations. A recent analysis conducted by the Congressional Research Service shows that before President Trump returned to the White House, it was typically invoked at the request of grid operators to stabilize the electricity system during extreme weather events.
A spokesperson for the DOE did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CPR News.
