Advocates take Department of Energy to court over unlawful Orlando area coal plant extension

• Public interest groups filed a challenge in federal court to overturn the Department of Energy’s illegal emergency order forcing the Stanton coal plant in Orlando to operate past its planned retirement date.
• By unnecessarily keeping the unit online, the order threatens to worsen air quality and raise Orlando Utilities Commission customers' electricity bills by $20 per month, according to analysis.
• OUC planned to retire and replace Stanton with cheaper and cleaner energy resources, which the vast majority of Floridians agree is the right move, as underscored by recent polling. Meanwhile, DOE claims that keeping Stanton online is necessary to power new data centers.

(ORLANDO – August 28, 2026) Public interest groups filed a challenge in federal court to overturn the Department of Energy’s illegal emergency order forcing the Stanton coal plant in Orlando to operate past its planned retirement date. The groups include Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club and Earthjustice, representing Florida Rising.

The petition for review, filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, follows the Department of Energy’s denial of the groups’ July request for rehearing. The request for rehearing was filed in response to DOE’s order on June 4, 2026, which prevented the planned retirement of Unit 1. DOE’s order forces the plant to remain available to operate for 90 days and may be renewed, as the administration has repeatedly done with five other unlawful and expensive coal plant orders.

“Central Florida families and businesses shouldn’t be forced to pay for an uneconomic coal plant they don’t need and can’t afford,” said Ted Kelly, Director and Lead Counsel for U.S. Clean Energy at Environmental Defense Fund. “Cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power has already made this coal plant unnecessary – and yet ratepayers will be left paying the price for keeping it on life support.”

By unnecessarily keeping the unit online, the order threatens to raise utility customers’ electricity bills and worsen air quality for surrounding communities. Orlando Utilities Commission’s financial reports reveal that coal has been its highest cost fuel per megawatt hour in recent years, costing more than natural gas and the cost of purchasing solar power. Keeping Stanton online for even 90 extra days is expected to cost around $18 million and could add over$20 to monthly electricity bills, if the costs of keeping the plant open are assigned solely to OUC customers. Recent polling found that 77% of Floridians agreed that Stanton should be retired and replaced with newer, lower-cost energy.

OUC planned to replace Stanton 1 with natural gas and solar resources, and the utility’s own planning documents from last year conclude that the utility is projected to maintain adequate power capacity through at least 2034 (page 63). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, an organization responsible for assessing grid reliability, also rates Florida's electric system as having the highest reliability rating for both Summer 2026 and long-term resource adequacy. In its order, DOE claims that meeting new data centers’ power demand justifies keeping the coal plant online.