The Trump Administration Is Using Emergency Powers to Force Fossil Fuel Plants to Remain Open

Keeping plants open could be costly to consumers, experts say.

Donald Trump
Annabelle Gordon/Sipa USA via AP

For the second time in as many weeks, the Trump administration used emergency powers to prevent an old fossil-fuel power plant from closing just one day before it was scheduled to shutter.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright ordered late on Friday that an oil- and gas-fired power plant in Pennsylvania keep operating through the summer, citing concerns about possible energy shortages in the region.

But experts say the plant doesn’t need to remain open to meet energy needs — and that President Donald Trump’s interventions will cause further spikes in electricity bills already expected to increase significantly in some parts of the country this summer.