With Halloween right around the corner, now is the time of year you might be pumpkin-carving, putting together that perfect costume, and watching scary movies and shows about zombies. This Halloween, NRDC Action Fund is focused on destroying an especially scary kind of zombie – the zombie power plant.
What are Zombie Power Plants?
A “Zombie Power Plant” is a power plant slated for retirement that’s been brought back to life to keep operating. In May, Trump’s Department of Energy (DOE) issued unlawful orders forcing two fossil fuel plants to continue running past their shutdown dates. One is the J.H. Campbell coal-fired power plant near Grand Rapids, Michigan; the other is the Eddystone gas and oil plant near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In its orders, the DOE pointed to emergency powers usually only reserved for wartime or imminent emergencies like hurricanes. Yet, the DOE did not provide evidence of any imminent emergency electricity shortage to justify keeping these plants running. If the administration keeps unlawfully using emergency powers to prop up failing, polluting plants, more of these resurrections could follow. While claiming an emergency to keep these plants running, the Trump administration has, at the same time, worked to block new clean energy sources that could come online quickly, like wind, solar, and batteries.
The longer these zombies shuffle along, the more they feed on your utility bill. These plants were closing because they were too expensive to maintain and couldn’t compete with cheaper, cleaner sources like wind and solar. Keeping these plants running locks in higher electricity costs for consumers and harms communities with toxic air pollution. Keeping Campbell online will saddle Michigan ratepayers with the cost of outdated coal operations and ongoing pollution controls, while Pennsylvanians will pay for the decades-old infrastructure at the Eddystone plant that burns costly oil and gas.
How to Stop a Zombie Outbreak
That’s why our affiliate, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and its allies are fighting to keep these zombie power plants closed for good. NRDC and coalition partners took legal action to challenge the unlawful orders for both the J.H. Campbell and Eddystone power plants.
Your member of Congress also has an important role to play. Congress is now drafting new competing bills—legislation that could either stop the next wave of zombie power plants or encourage even more of them.
The Power Plant Reliability Act of 2025 could make things worse by allowing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require power plants to continue operating even when they’re uneconomic or unnecessary – and force residents to pay higher electricity bills.
One promising example of legislation that could stop zombie power plants is the Cheap Energy Act, proposed by Representatives Sean Casten and Mike Levin. The bill takes aim at the root problem: an outdated, expensive energy system that keeps dragging the past into the future and sticking consumers with the bill.
The Cheap Energy Act, as currently drafted, would make it harder for any president to misuse emergency powers to keep old, costly fossil fuel plants running long after they’re set to close. It would also shine light on the real price tag of keeping these plants alive—something families feel every month on their electricity bills.
Just as important, it looks ahead: speeding up approvals for cheaper clean energy, upgrading our grid, and helping people cut energy waste at home and at work. The details are still being shaped, but the goal is clear—make our energy system more reliable, more affordable, and a lot less spooky.
The NRDC Action Fund Launches the Zombie Power Plants Ad Campaign
With additional power plants slated to retire at the end of the year and President Trump’s recent actions to try to resurrect more coal plants, it felt like the right time to raise the alarm—before more zombie power plants crawl back to life. So, we launched an ad campaign to bring this issue out of the wonky policy world and into people’s living rooms (and nightmares).
Using a zombie theme inspired by popular shows, the campaign highlights how outdated fossil fuel plants—like J.H. Campbell in Michigan and Eddystone in Pennsylvania—are being forced to keep running long past their long-planned retirement dates. The goal: make sure people in these states know what’s happening, how it’s driving up their electricity bills, and how we expect our members of Congress to take action to stop it.
Stop Zombie Power Plants from Devouring Our Bank Accounts
While more zombie power plants could still rise from the dead, our coalition will be ready to continue to fight them in court. But we also need our elected leaders to stand up for consumers and stop these costly resurrections before they spread. You can help make sure they do. Contact your member of Congress today and tell them to support strong, common-sense policies that keep our energy bills low, our air clean, and the zombies where they belong—six feet under.