Gov. Evers Celebrates Order Reversing Trump Administration Decision to Raise Energy Costs for Wisconsinites by Forcing Coal Plants to Stay Online
Governor spent months advocating against the Trump Administration to reverse Trump directive requiring coal plants to stay open past their useful life, which was expected to raise energy costs for Wisconsin working families
MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today, during National Clean Energy Week, celebrated the recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling that President Donald J. Trump and the Trump Administration overstepped its emergency powers when it forced coal plants to stay online past their scheduled retirement date. Gov. Evers spent months urging President Trump and the Trump Administration to reverse course on its decision to invoke Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to force the extension of operations of expensive coal power plants in the Midwest region. The effort by Trump to keep the coal plants online past their useful life is part of the Trump Administration’s larger efforts to revive coal plants throughout the nation and walk back clean energy regulation, further raising energy costs for Wisconsinites and hindering the state’s efforts to promote clean energy resilience.
“There is no such thing as ‘clean coal,’ and the Trump Administration’s efforts to keep aging coal plants online would only further increase energy bills for Wisconsinites while undermining our efforts to build a more sustainable, reliable, and resilient clean energy future for our state,” said Gov. Evers. “I’ve spent months urging the Trump Administration to reverse course on this shortsighted and wrongheaded decision. While it’s disappointing that the Trump Administration refused to do the right thing without a court making them, this is an important fight for our clean energy efforts and our work to leave our kids and grandkids a better future than the one we inherited. Here in Wisconsin, we know that promoting a clean energy economy and bringing down energy costs are not mutually exclusive goals, and we will continue our efforts to protect the well-being and interests of our communities and safeguard the health of our environment.”
Gov. Evers earlier this year, in letters to the Trump Administration in April and July, respectively, accused the Trump Administration of unjustifiably invoking Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act to revive or extend the life of old, expensive coal power plants, including the J.H. Campbell Power Plant in Michigan and the R.M. Schahfer and F.B. Culley generating stations in Indiana. The three coal power plants run on the same regional electric grid that Wisconsin is part of, spreading the increasing costs across states in the region. An analysis outlined in July shows that the Trump Administration’s decision to force several coal plants to stay online is estimated to cost Americans between $3.1 billion and $5.9 billion over the next few years, including an estimated $117 million in increased costs to ratepayers in Wisconsin alone.
Prior to the Trump Administration’s ongoing efforts to revive coal plants throughout the nation, these coal power plants had gone through extensive business analysis and energy reliability planning, which concluded the plants were no longer economically viable and their closures would have no impact on the electricity supply and grid. All three coal power plants were scheduled to retire due to the plants reaching the end of their useful lives, until the U.S.DOE issued the abrupt orders forcing them to remain open, resulting in dramatically increased costs to operate. In fact, the owner of the F.B. Culley generating station described this power plant as “an inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset” in a letter asking the U.S. DOE to stop forcing them to keep this plant online. Since the initial extension orders, the U.S.DOE has ordered multiple extensions for the coal power plants, racking up additional costs to utility ratepayers.
Gov. Evers has consistently advanced a clean energy economy in Wisconsin and focused on reducing out-of-pocket costs for families. In his first year in office, Gov. Evers joined the U.S. Climate Alliance, of which he was the first Midwest governor to serve on the executive board and as co-chair. The governor, along with his fellow U.S. Climate Alliance governors, is committed to collectively achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change and has established an ambitious goal of ensuring 100 percent carbon-free electricity consumption in Wisconsin by 2050.
In addition to joining the Alliance in 2019, in his first year in office, Gov. Evers signed Executive Order #38 to create the OSCE, charging the office with developing the Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan to promote the development and use of clean and renewable energy across the state, advance innovative sustainability solutions that improve the state’s economy and environment, and diversify the resources used to meet the state’s energy needs. In accordance with Gov. Evers’ Executive Order #38, the state’s first-ever Clean Energy Plan was released in 2022, providing a roadmap for the state to lower energy bills and prices at the pump for Wisconsin families, promote energy independence by reducing reliance on out-of-state energy sources, create an estimated more than 40,000 jobs by 2030, and invest in job training and apprenticeship programs in innovative industries and technologies. Last month, OSCE released the 2026 Clean Energy Plan Progress Report, outlining the strides the state is making to meet its clean energy goals.
Additionally, in his most recent state budget, Gov. Evers successfully eliminated the sales tax on household utility bills, which is expected to save Wisconsin households $178 million over the biennium. The Evers Administration has also led the nation in the rollout of the state’s Home Energy Rebate programs, which assist homeowners in making energy efficiency and electrification upgrades to lower energy bills. Since launching the programs in 2024, $17 million in rebates have been paid to Wisconsin households to install popular energy-efficient measures, including air sealing, insulation, heat pumps for cooling and heating, and electric panels and wiring. Gov. Evers has also proposed increasing funding for Focus on Energy, the state’s energy efficiency program, to further help Wisconsin homeowners reduce their energy use and lower energy bills.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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