July 02, 2025
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A group of environmental groups filed a legal challenge against the Department of Energy's order to keep open Delaware County's Eddystone Power Plant, pictured in 2020.
A coalition of environmental groups filed a legal challenge Friday against President Donald Trump's Department of Energy, calling its order to keep the Eddystone Power Plant in Delaware County up and running an "unlawful abuse" of power.
In late May, the agency invoked special energy emergency powers and demanded that two units of the plant come back online one day before they were set to be retired.
The Natural Resources Defense Council filed the challenge against Department of Energy with the support of five other Pennsylvania-area environmental groups.
The council claims that these emergency powers were cited under false pretense, and says that even if they weren't, the order still did not properly demonstrate why the power plant should stay open.
In addition, concerns were raised that the cost of powering the plant back up will be passed onto consumers, since no federal funds were dispersed to keep Eddystone operational.
"There is no energy 'emergency' that calls for rash, last-minute action by the federal government to require this inefficient, uneconomic plant to stay open," said Robert Routh, Pennsylvania policy director at the NRDC. "Pennsylvania families will now have to cover the costs of this unlawful, unnecessary and harmful order."
The Department of Energy has 30 days from the time of the filing to respond before the organizations can officially challenge the decision in court.
Eddystone Power Plant, located 20 minutes south of Center City, has been in operation since 1960. Its owner, Constellation Energy, requested in late 2023 that the plant's remaining two operational units be shut down by May 31.
Regional grid manager PJM approved this request in February 2024 after an analysis showed the shutdown would not significantly impact grid reliability.
However, PJM has voiced concerns in recent months to the U.S. House of Representatives regarding the insufficient energy supply considering an increasing demand, the development of data centers and industrial growth in the region.
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed to roll back all emission standards for fossil fuel-fired power plants, saying greenhouse gas emissions do not significantly contribute to dangerous air pollution.
"Ignoring the immense harm to public health from power plant pollution is a clear violation of the law," Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the NRDS, said in a statement at the time. "Our lawyers will be watching closely, and if the EPA finalizes a slapdash effort to repeal those rules, we'll see them in court."
