Why are we paying $235M for “emergency” fossil plants that were already scheduled to retire?

I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the recent string of DOE emergency orders. According to the latest reports this week, the DOE has used Section 202(c) authority 13 times in the last 10 months to keep six retiring fossil plants online (including the J.H. Campbell plant in Michigan and Craig in Colorado).

The part that’s confusing me is the math and the "why":

– Around $235M in marginal costs is already being passed directly to ratepayers to keep these uneconomic units running.

– In several cases, the actual grid operators (like MISO or PJM) and state regulators apparently didn't even request these orders or identify an immediate reliability gap.

– Some of these plants, like the one in Washington, haven't actually produced any power since the order went into effect because the grid is already "flush" with supply.

I’m genuinely curious about the logic here from a grid perspective. Is this a preemptive move for the 2026 summer heatwaves/AI data center demand that isn't showing up in current reliability reports? Or is this just a shift in how federal vs. state authority handles the "energy transition"? Would love to hear from anyone who works in grid planning or utility law. Is this $235M a "reliability insurance policy" or is it disrupting the normal resource planning process?