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CenterPoint Requests DOE to Not Re-Issue Order for Coal Plant

 

 

April 17, 2026 - The Citizens Action Coalition (CAC) released info in regard to CenterPoint allegedly contacting the U.S. Department of Energy to request the department not to re-issue an emergency order forcing CenterPoint to keep coal-fired Culley Unit 2 open.

CAC says the February 17 letter from CenterPoint’s Indiana Region President Mike Roeder to U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright stated that maintaining the coal plant “will require substantial investment to support an inefficient and increasingly unreliable asset, rather than advancing affordable and reliable service for customers in southwestern Indiana,” and requested the DOE “abstain from issuing subsequent…Orders for Unit 2” that would require CenterPoint to continue operating it.

CAC says the U.S. DOE disregarded CenterPoint’s request, as on March 23, it reportedly issued another order directing CenterPoint keep the unit open through at least June 21.

“This letter shows that even utilities like CenterPoint admit that there is no grid emergency and that coal plants are too unreliable, expensive, and polluting to continue operating,” said Ben Inskeep, CAC Program Director.
“The federal government’s unlawful orders directing utilities to keep dilapidated and unreliable coal plants open at a massive and growing cost to consumers is an outrageous abuse of power that will cause Americans’ energy bills to continue to increase.”Officials say CenterPoint’s letter highlighted the poor performance of the unit during the first 48 days of the initial DOE emergency order, including:
  • It was on outage for 26 days due to equipment issues
  • It was available but did not operate for five days because it was not economical to do so
  • It could only operate on a limited basis for 17 days due to maintenance issues before systemic equipment failures from a winter storm on January 24-25 forced an outage on January 26. CAC notes this admission by CenterPoint appears to contradict the U.S. DOE claim that the unit operated “almost every day from January 21-February 1.”

CAC says to continue operating Culley Unit 2 past March, CenterPoint says a prolonged 10-week outage for a turbine overhaul is required at a staggering cost of up to $18 million, among other costly and major interventions needed to continue operating the unit.

People can read the CenterPoint Energy letter here.