Wisconsin ratepayers may no longer have to help pay for keeping a western Michigan coal plant operating after its scheduled retirement. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Sept. 11 that the U.S. Department of Energy exceeded its authority when it ordered the 60-year-old J.H. Campbell power plant to remain online. The unanimous decision overturned the federal directive and sided with Michigan officials challenging the plant’s continued operation. The Energy Department intervened last spring to block the plant’s retirement, arguing that shutting it down could worsen an electricity shortage in the region. The plant’s owner, Consumers Energy, has spent at least $295 million operating the facility as federal officials repeatedly extended its deadline. A 2025 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order required ratepayers across the Midwest to share those operating costs. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers warned Energy Secretary Chris Wright in July that Wisconsin customers alone could face $117 million in charges over the next several years if the plant remained open. The Wisconsin Citizens Utility Board joined other ratepayer advocates in supporting Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit against the federal extension orders. Nessel praised the ruling, saying the Energy Department had attempted to use an unprecedented strategy to keep an aging coal plant running and shift its costs to customers. Judge Cornelia Pillard wrote that the federal government’s position could allow it to select power sources in Michigan—or potentially any other state—and order them to operate outside the state reliability-planning procedures established by law. The ruling comes as Wisconsin utilities and customers continue to grapple with the financial legacy of coal power. Wisconsin ratepayers still owe more than $1 billion in costs associated with retired coal plants. Separately, the Citizens Utility Board estimates that We Energies could collect more than $100 million in returns from retired generating assets during the next two years under a rate proposal pending before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. The Energy Department has not used the same authority to prevent Wisconsin coal plants from retiring. But the agency plans to spend $425 million to support 13 coal plants in 10 states, including at least $19 million that could go toward extending operations at Alliant Energy’s coal units at the Columbia Energy Center near Portage.