The Trump administration just ordered another retiring coal plant to stay open. It could cost ratepayers millions

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1. The Trump administration ordered an [aging coal-fired power plant in Colorado](https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/31/climate/coal-power-electricity-trump-colorado?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit) to stay open on Tuesday, a day before it was set to be retired.

   The order from Energy Secretary Chris Wright will keep the nearly 50-year-old Craig Generating Station Unit 1 in northwest Colorado operating until the end of March, with an option to extend it further.

   It’s the Department of Energy’s sixth such move this year; Wright has also ordered two coal plants in Indiana, one in Michigan and one in Washington state to stay open past their retirement dates, as well as a Pennsylvania power plant that runs on oil.

   “Keeping this coal plant online will ensure Americans maintain an affordable, reliable, and secure supply of electricity,” Wright said in a statement.

   Colorado’s governor and its top energy official pushed back on Wright’s claim that keeping Craig open would boost affordability, saying it would only raise electricity prices.

   In a statement, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said the order would pass “tens of millions in costs to Colorado ratepayers, in order to keep a coal plant open that is broken and not needed.”

   According to Polis’ statement, Craig 1 “isn’t even operational right now” and would require repairs costing millions of dollars to get it up and running before it could even produce power. CNN has reached out to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, the power supply co-op that owns Craig 1, for comment on the plant’s operational status.

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