Summary

President Donald Trump significantly expanded his administration’s support for coal and coal-fired electric generation on Thursday by committing the federal government to provide about $685 million to support coal mining, coal exports and coal-fired electric generation in the U.S.

Presidential Actions Support Coal

President Donald Trump, flanked by his secretaries of Energy and Interior, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and elected officials from coal-producing states, in a Thursday afternoon Oval Office media event unveiled a series of steps his administration is taking to boost coal mining, coal exports and the use of coal in electric generation. According to Industrial Info Resources Data, there are 212 active capital coal-fired power projects in the U.S., with a total investment value of US$20.87 billion. Readers can find project details in the Industrial Info Resources Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database.

“We’re taking historic actions to lower energy costs by increasing the use of clean, beautiful coal,” he said, adding that the steps his administration was taking today would prevent 13 coal-fired power plants and 42 coal mines from closing. “There’s nothing like coal–there’s no real alternative to it. These are incredible plants, so productive.”

Trump projected the moves would support thousands of jobs and lower electricity prices by $50 billion. He also said increased use of coal-fired electricity would support grid reliability. He also took his customary potshots at wind power.

Thursday’s steps continues the Trump administration’s longtime support for coal and other fossil fuels. For more on these other steps, see: February 23, 2026, article – EPA Finalizes Repeal of Biden-era Amendments to MATS Rule; February 13, 2026, article – Trump to Pentagon: Use More Coal Power; and October 1, 2025, article – Three Federal Moves Aim to Boost Coal, Win the ‘Artificial Intelligence Arms Race’.

At Thursday’s event, Trump did not use the term, “energy emergency,” though several Cabinet members did. On Thursday, the president invoked a 1950 law, the Defense Production Act, to order the following:

• Provide US$425 million in federal grants to support and modernize 13 existing coal-fired power plants in 10 states: West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
• Give approximately $185 million in DOE funding to help build two new coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and Alaska, and
• Distribute $75 million in federal funds to support construction of a new coal export terminal in Oakland, California.

If the two proposed power plants are built, they would be the first greenfield coal-fired power plants to be built in the U.S. in more than a decade.

Coal interests have been trying to permit export terminals on the West Coast for years, but many efforts were cancelled years ago in the face of opposition from state government agencies and the Obama and Biden administrations.

One existing West Coast coal export terminal, the Levin-Richmond Terminal in Richmond, California, is scheduled to stop transporting coal entirely by the end of 2026 as part of a litigation settlement.

By the Numbers

• US$425 million: U.S. support for 13 existing coal-fired power plants in 10 states.
• US$185 million: Federal grants to build two new coal-fired power plants in West Virginia and Alaska.
• US$75 million: U.S. grant to help construct a new coal export terminal in Oakland, California.

The disbursement of about $685 million in federal funds requires recipients to match the federal government’s financial support.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the federal funding would be matched by $1.7 billion in private-sector funding.

‘Energy Emergency’ Asserted

In the past, Trump has asserted the nation is in an “energy emergency” in order to support a number of his actions on energy and the environment. But whether the U.S. is, in fact, in an “energy emergency” has been contested in several lawsuits.

In one, Washington v. Trump, 16 Democratic-led states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington asserting the president is using allegations of an “energy emergency” to ram through favored projects and evade scrutiny under various federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act.

He also has claimed that the “energy emergency” threatens construction of data centers that are used to train artificial intelligence (AI). Trump also has asserted that the U.S. is an existential competition with China to build data centers that can transform the world’s economy. Presently, the U.S. has the vast majority of the world’s operating data centers, and is scheduled to build the majority of future facilities.

Trump issued an executive order in December that preempted state and local governments from enacting laws or regulations that could slow the construction of data centers. The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation in late 2025 codifying the president’s wishes in the SPEED (Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development) Act. As yet, there has been no companion bill introduced in the U.S. Senate. For more on this, see December 31, 2025, article – SPEED Act Seeks to Streamline Permitting of Energy Assets.

Plans to construct data centers have proven to be unpopular in both Red and Blue states, however, raising questions about the ultimate number of data centers that will be built in the U.S.

Trump and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the U.S. has issued 76 coal mining permits in the second Trump administration. By contrast, they said, the Biden administration issued no coal mining permits.

Who Benefits?

The Department of Energy released a list of the projects to benefit from the federal funding.

Several electricity companies would benefit from the Trump administration’s grants: Duke Energy Corporation, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, AES Corporation, Tennessee Valley Authority and at least one subsidiary of American Electric Power Company Incorporated. Independent power producer Hallador Energy Company also is slated to receive federal funding. The money could be used for a variety of purposes, including upgrading existing coal-fired power generation.

Separately, the Department of Energy announced the selection of four coal modernization and reliability projects in Alaska, West Virginia, Puerto Rico and Maryland.

Environmental organizations blasted the president’s moves, asking rhetorically if the federal government also plans to provide a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths.

Coal once was used to generate about 50% of U.S. electricity, but in recent years that number has fallen to less than 20%. U.S. coal use by electric generators has fallen by more than 50% since 2008, but it did increase 12% last year, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Key Takeaways

• President Donald Trump unveiled about US$685 million in federal grants to support domestic coal mining, coal exports and the wider use of coal in electric generation.
• The grants support the construction of two new coal-fired power plants. If built, it would be the first time in over a decade that a new coal-burning power station was constructed.

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