Environmental groups have filed two emergency motions in federal court to prevent Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC (MVP) from continuing work on parts of the project after FERC ordered all construction stopped. MVP submitted a temporary plan that was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to install up to 80 miles of pipeline to prevent adverse environmental impacts. FERC’s move came in response to a federal court’s decision to vacate decisions by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management that allowed MVP to cross a national forest. The motions were filed in both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Led by the Sierra Club, the groups argue that the federal agencies should be allowed to “appropriately” revise their decisions, as the Fourth Circuit instructed.

DTE Energy Co. is scheduled to break ground on a $1 billion natural gas-fired power plant next Tuesday, Aug. 21. The Blue Water Energy Center, located in St. Clair County’s East China Township, will have 1,150 MW of capacity and provide power for 850,000 homes in 2022, the year the facility is scheduled to begin operations. The utility, which serves 2.2 million electric utility customers in southeastern Michigan, plans to retire three coal-fired plants — River Rouge, St. Clair and Trenton Channel — by 2023.