Updated April 17, 2025 at 00:01 AM ET
On his first day back in office, President Trump promised to "unleash American energy".
Now, he has signed four executive orders in an attempt to revive America's coal industry.
At a White House event on April 8, with dozens of coal industry workers in uniforms and hard hats standing behind him, Trump spoke of a coal renaissance.
"We're bringing back an industry that was abandoned," Trump said. "With us today are some of the amazing workers who will benefit from these policies."
The executive orders open up new leases for mining coal on federal land and loosen emission standards for coal plants. They direct the Justice Department to take legal action against state laws and regulations that impede energy development.
The orders aim to increase coal power production through incentives and executive action, including the possibility that the Energy Department could force coal plant owners to keep operating, even if they have already shut down or plan to do so.
"All those plants that have been closed are going to be opened," Trump said at the signing ceremony. "If they're modern enough, or they'll be ripped down and brand-new ones will be built."
The construction of new coal power plants would mark a significant reversal of U.S. energy policy. When burned, coal is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. For more than 50 years, Democrats and Republicans have enacted laws and offered incentives to wean the United States off coal power and accelerate the move toward less polluting and renewable sources of energy.
Coal's share of the energy market has been declining too, due to tightening environmental regulations and competition from natural gas and renewables. In 2001, coal fueled more than half of domestic electricity production. Today, it's fallen to about 15%.
Trump's vow to reverse these trends drew cheers from the coal industry employees standing behind him.
"For too long, coal has been a dirty word that most are afraid to speak about," said Jeff Crowe, a coal mine manager from West Virginia, who spoke at the ceremony. "But we are still strong. We are still here. And we're still needed in order to make America great again."
Booming electricity demand
Meanwhile, the coal industry argues that there's a new rationale for keeping aging coal plants operating: the growth of artificial intelligence and data centers.
"Electricity demand is expected to double by 2030," said Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of America's Power, a coal-industry trade organization. "At the same time, we have 120 coal plants across the country in 32 states who have announced retirement in the next five years."
The rise of natural gas is pushing many of these coal plants toward retirement. Over the past 20 years, hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) has made natural gas abundant and inexpensive. Natural gas now accounts for about 45% of the power produced in the United States.
"I haven't heard of anybody considering building a new coal plant," said Rob Gramlich, CEO of Grid Strategies, an energy markets consultancy based in Washington, D.C. "The capital cost is much more expensive than, say, gas and renewable energy. And the operating [cost], the day-to-day energy cost, is much more expensive as well."
Last week, Trump said he'll use emergency authority under the Federal Power Act to force utilities to keep coal plants running — an action that could face legal challenges.
But even if the Trump administration succeeds in pushing utilities to keep aging coal plants running, that means someone will have to cover the financial losses.
"This proposal has a cost," said Gramlich. "If taxpayers don't pay, through the form of loans, grants, etc. … and there isn't really authority in the government to do those, then it's ratepayers. And so the effect, one primary effect, would be that electricity ratepayers have higher electricity bills every month."
In his first term, Trump attempted similar tactics to force utilities to use more coal. But he abandoned those efforts after fierce opposition from oil, gas and renewable energy companies. During those four years, nearly 100 coal plants shut down.
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