The Trump administration is stepping up efforts to revive the U.S. coal industry as it pursues its goal of increasing energy security.
Last week, the Department of Energy announced it would provide $175 million in funding for projects to retrofit, modernize and extend the life of six coal-fired power stations serving rural and remote communities.
The agency said the move is intended to keep reliable energy sources online while also strengthening the reliability of the electric grid and keeping electricity costs low for American households and businesses.
The funding came from a previously announced $525 million plan to extend the life of coal-fired power plants and increase efficiency, as the government sees modernizing existing plants as a fast and cost-effective way to provide reliable energy while preserving high-wage energy jobs.
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The Trump administration is providing money to support coal-fired power plants as part of the nation’s energy mix. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
“For years, previous administrations targeted America’s coal industry and the workers who power our country, forcing the premature closure of reliable power plants and driving up electricity costs,” the spokesperson said. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.
“President Trump has ended the war on America’s coal and is restoring common-sense energy policies. These investments will keep America’s coal plants running, keep costs down for Americans, and ensure we have the reliable power needed to keep the lights on and power our future.”
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The government will finance projects to extend the life of coal-fired power stations. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
The coal-fired power plants selected as part of the $175 million project include:
- Appalachian Power Company’s facilities in Letart and Winfield, West Virginia
- Buckeye Power’s plant in Brilliant, Ohio
- Duke Energy Carolinas plants in Sauaratown Township, North Carolina
- The Kentucky Utilities Corporation branch in Ghent, Kentucky
- Monongahela Power Company’s power plant in Maidsville, West Virginia
- The Ohio Valley Electric Corporation plant in Cheshire, Ohio
The demand for electricity increases during this period artificial intelligence (AI) race, and data centers that consume enormous amounts of energy are becoming a bigger drain on the electrical grid.
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Coal’s share of electricity generation has declined rapidly in recent decades. (Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The Trump administration’s push to boost coal as part of the country’s energy mix comes after years of decline as coal-fired power plants have closed. Coal’s decline came amid the rise of natural gas and renewables as energy sources.
Data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that total coal production for generation of electricity peaked in 2007, when it was the source of 2,016 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.
That figure fell to 675 billion kilowatt hours from 2023, when coal’s share of electricity generation reached 16.2%. Coal last generated more than half of the country’s electricity in the early 2000s and peaked as a percentage of the energy mix in the 1980s.
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Natural gas surpassed coal as the nation’s largest source of electricity in 2016, and EIA data showed natural gas generating 43.1% of the nation’s electricity in 2023.
