Plans by the Orlando Utilities Commission to shut down one of its coal-fired plants and rely more on solar power and natural gas facilities for electricity have been halted by the Trump administration.
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Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued an emergency order on Thursday that directs the municipal utility to ensure that one of its coal-fired units at the Stanton Energy Center remains available to operate, though OUC had slated the plant for an “extended cold shutdown” this month.
“Taking reliable generation off the grid compromises energy reliability,” Wright said in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The federal agency cited a report by the North American Electric Reliability Corp. that Florida is at a “normal risk” as far as its long-term energy supply, but lags in producing enough energy to support new data centers in the state.
OUC spokeswoman Michelle Lynch said Monday the utility will “fully comply” with the order.
“We have to make sure it’s available,” Lynch said of Unit 1. “We can’t put it into a cold shutdown yet.”
The unit is one of two coal-fired facilities at Stanton, located off South Alafaya Trail just north of State Road 528.
The DOE order — issued through the Federal Powers Act — is in effect through Sept. 1. After that, the federal agency could re-issue the order.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a candidate for Orlando mayor, blasted the DOE’s decision and said it was released on the same day the Trump administration announced up to $850 million in federal money to upgrade or build new coal-fired plants across the country. A DOE press release Thursday claimed the administration has now “saved or supported” 45 coal plants around the country, “reversing the war on American coal.”
“I think the Trump administration doesn’t want to move us off of coal,” she said. “They are spending public money to subsidize the dirtiest, costliest form of power we have — the exact thing we should be moving away from — while working families foot the bill.”
She added that local governments and municipally-owned utilities should make their own decisions regarding power generation.
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“It’s just so ironic that these small-government politicians continue practicing big government,” Eskamani said.
As a fossil fuel, coal contributes to carbon pollution, which drives global warming, and leads to stronger hurricanes, rising sea levels and supercharged wildfires, according to scientists.
OUC’s goal is that by 2040 more than 90% of its electricity is generated by facilities that do not rely on fossil fuels like coal, according to its long-range plan.
As part of that effort, the utility opened its large, 149-megawatt solar energy center east of St. Cloud on two separate sites — Harmony II and Storey Bend Solar — in April 2025.
“OUC was moving away from coal in a methodical, responsible manner to get to more natural gas and ultimately solar,” Orlando City Commissioner Roger Chapin said. “They were doing it in a responsible manner. And I think they should be allowed to continue to do that.”
OUC plans to convert Unit 2 at Stanton it to cleaner-burning natural gas by the end of 2027, according to the utility’s 2026 “Ten-Year Site Plan” filing with the Florida Public Service Commission in April.
OUC also said in the report that placing its 453-megawatt Unit 1 into “extended cold shutdown” would help meet the utility meet its “primary goal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”
Coal-fired plants produce electricity by using coal ground into a fine powder and blowing into a boiler to combust. The intense heat boils water and the high-pressure steam drives turbines that generate electricity.
OUC has about 288,000 electric and water customers.
“OUC was always the crown jewel of municipal electric companies, and I fear that outsiders, national groups or political groups are trying to take it over,” Chapin said.
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Ryan Gillespie of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.