WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is again seeking to boost the struggling U.S. coal industry, with an announcement expected Thursday to spend nearly $700 million to support coal-fired power plants and coal exports.
A White House official said the administration will use authority under a Cold War-era national defense law to support 13 coal plants across the country and help build coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the first new U.S. coal plants since 2013. The money will also help restart a coal-fired power plant in Maryland and support construction of a long-delayed coal export terminal in Oakland, California.
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Together, the announcements will support or create more than 14,000 jobs in coal, construction, rail and maritime industries, a White House official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the details ahead of Trump’s expected announcement later Thursday at the White House.
Trump is expected to be joined Thursday by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin.
The announcement is the latest step by Trump to try to reverse the years-long decline in the U.S. coal industry. The administration said last fall it will open 13 million acres of federal lands for coal mining and provide $625 million to recommission or modernize coal-fired power plants. Trump issued executive orders soon after retaking office to try to revive coal, a reliable but polluting energy source that’s long been shrinking amid environmental regulations and competition from cheaper natural gas.
Bloomberg News first reported the new funds for coal.
Under Trump’s orders, the Energy Department has required fossil-fueled power plants in Michigan, Indiana, Colorado and Washington state to keep operating past their retirement dates to meet rising U.S. power demand amid growth in data centers, artificial intelligence and electric cars. The Energy Department has extended short-term orders to allow those efforts to continue, and has ordered oil and gas-fired plants in Maryland and Pennsylvania to run past scheduled retirement dates.
Wright has said the administration's use of emergency orders to keep aging coal-fired plants operating helped prevent major blackouts during brutally frigid weather that gripped most of country in late January and early February.
Environmental groups denounced the latest effort to boost coal, which comes as the Trump administration has clamped down on renewable energy, including freezing permits for offshore wind projects, ending clean energy tax credits and blocking wind and solar projects on federal lands.
“Propping up coal billionaires with taxpayer money is one more way for the Trump administration to put polluters first and put the rest of us at risk," said Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “What’s next, a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths?”
Trump's order will result in higher electricity bills and dirtier air, Kennedy and other critics said. “The best thing for the air, the climate and our utility bills is to let these plants retire peacefully," she said.
Coal once provided more than half of U.S. electricity production, but its share dropped to about 15% in 2024, down from about 45% as recently as 2010. Natural gas provides about 43% of U.S. electricity, with the remainder from nuclear energy and renewables such as wind, solar and hydropower.
U.S. coal exports dropped during the first year of Trump’s second term, largely due to less coal being shipped to China after it imposed reciprocal tariffs on American products last year in response to broad tariffs announced by Trump, according to the Energy Information Administration. Global coal demand rose to record levels in recent years but is expected to flatten or decline in coming years, according the International Energy Agency.
It’s hard for U.S. companies to expand into new markets because there are plentiful reserves of coal around the globe.
Trump is expected to invoke the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that grants presidents wide authority over national security-related industries.
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Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings Montana contributed to this report.