WASHINGTON (AP) — Before Donald Trump returned to the White House, the Biden administration and many utility companies were building a renewable energy-driven future. They aimed to replace coal, reduce greenhouse gases and reduce air pollution, which kills more than 1,000 people a year.
Dozens of coal-fired power plants emit as much global warming pollution as 27 million cars and were expected to be phased out during President Trump’s second term. Now, there may not be any more coal-fired power plants shutting down. After President Trump leaves officeAccording to officials and energy analysis firm Enbels.
The United States is undergoing a dramatic shift in energy policy, as President Trump uses broad government powers to benefit coal and rein in cleaner energy alternatives. it may lead to further expensive electricity and dirty air and roll back efforts to suppress climate change, According to an Associated Press review of government data and interviews with experts.
Used by Trump administration officials emergency powers This is to prevent the closure of five coal-fired power plants. It costs $135 million to keep one Michigan plant open for about seven months. The administration has also weakened protections for coal-fired power plants while spending millions of taxpayer dollars to repair and extend the lives of other coal-fired power plants. air pollution and toxic on thursday Coal ash.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the goal for coal-fired power plants is to “continue to operate at 100%, with no more retirements and no more closures.”
A train stops near a coal pile, April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Indiana (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
A train stops near a coal pile, April 10, 2025, in Princeton, Indiana (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
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The action goes far beyond President Trump’s pro-coal efforts during his first term, when he eased some environmental regulations as a temporary economic stimulus. The government claims that coal produces badly needed power The Biden administration has argued that renewable energy has advantages over renewable energy even in extreme weather conditions. receiving unfair subsidies In the name of climate change.
“This Trump administration has been more systematic and strategic in bringing about the resurgence of coal,” said Robert Lifsett, a professor of energy history at the University of Oklahoma. “It looks like almost a whole-of-government approach.”
It comes as demand for electricity soars due to significant growth in electricity production. data center. A community in Indiana oversaw the construction of a vast solar farm on farmland ahead of the scheduled retirement of the Schafer Power Plant, a coal-fired power plant in Wheatfield, Indiana. For now, the Trump administration is keeping the plant open, citing the importance of its capabilities.
Activist Barbara Deardorff, who grew up about three miles from the nuclear power plant, said: “I was really thrilled because they were finally no longer a threat to our air and water.” “Since then, everything has been turned upside down.”
American Electric Power’s John Amos coal-fired power plant in Winfield, West Virginia. March 22, 2026, on the banks of the Kanawha River. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer, File)
American Electric Power’s John Amos coal-fired power plant in Winfield, West Virginia. March 22, 2026, on the banks of the Kanawha River. (AP Photo/Carolyn Custer, File)
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this rare moment
After World War II, electricity use in the United States increased along with economic growth. Seth Feaster of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, which promotes renewable energy, said the two trends diverged after the 2008 recession. Although the economy has grown again, electricity demand has remained flat, thanks in part to improvements in efficiency.
Utilities have retired large numbers of older, expensive plants and replaced them with more efficient natural gas and renewable energy. Coal’s share of U.S. electricity generation has fallen by more than half.
Schafer’s Chimney has been a familiar backdrop in the fields of northern Indiana since it was built in the 1970s. And in 2023, the operator foresaw a new future. Northern Indiana Public Service Company announced it will cut 73% of its energy production to zero coal as it pursues renewable energy. Schafer will be shut down.
As the day approached, the surrounding community was changing. Solar panels were built on hundreds of acres of nearby farmland, and while some lamented the change in the character of the area, others welcomed the cleaner energy and new tax revenue.
“180 degree” transformation
Then, in December, the Trump administration issued an emergency order to keep the Schaefer plant open, saying coal power is essential to meeting demand from extreme weather.
“Today, the policies that prevent rational energy development and undermine the calculations are focused on climate change,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in February at a news conference on grid reliability.
Wright and other administration officials say the emergency order helped prevent widespread power outages during severe winter storms. in most areas of the country In January.
Not only will the coal-fired power plant remain operational, but Amazon is proposing to build a multibillion-dollar data center complex nearby with gas-powered generators that would produce more than twice as much electricity as the old coal-fired power plant. NIPSCO said its agreement with Amazon protects its customers.
“It’s been a complete 180,” said Dierdorf, who said his family will no longer be able to farm on the land they had rented for years near the factory.
A complete halt to decommissioning, as Burgum suggests, would keep some 34 gigawatts of coal-fired power plants in operation that are scheduled to be retired by 2029. That threatens to stall decades of declines in coal pollution, where deaths have plummeted as power plants are retired and new equipment installed. Coal-fired power plants scheduled for retirement under the Trump administration emitted more than 130 million tons of carbon dioxide last year, as well as tens of thousands of tons of health-threatening sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.
“We could avoid this by eliminating all coal-fired power plants.” 2,000 deaths per year From coal. And if we keep our factories open and we keep burning coal, we’re going to have those emissions and we’re going to see the same health effects,” said Lucas Henneman, an environmental engineer at George Mason University who led the government study on deaths from coal pollution.
In addition to the five power plants ordered to remain operational, the government spent $175 million to extend the lifespan of seven other power plants. It is considering requesting $350 million in similar spending.
Enbels principal analyst Juan Arteaga said this spending and the reliability of coal make it unlikely that the plant will be retired until at least 2030.
Michelle Bloodworth of the industry group America’s Power said keeping America’s aging coal-fired power plants alive and modernizing them to make them more affordable and reduce emissions could ultimately cost $1 billion a year. He said the spending was justified given the “billions” of dollars spent on renewable energy.
Extensive permissions on the grid
The Congressional Research Service said in February that the administration has broad discretion to determine whether an emergency exists and “can order virtually any change in power system operations.”
That hasn’t stopped legal challenges from five Democratic-led states (Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Colorado).
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said the Trump administration’s order burdens consumers with higher prices and hinders sustainable energy.
“We’re on a trajectory from being the world leader in clean energy to becoming an isolated oil nation,” said Bob Keefe of the renewable energy tracking group E2. “It is costing us jobs and investment, hurting us in the global market, and resulting in higher electricity prices.”
Economists are skeptical that coal’s resurgence will last. Steve Cicala, an associate professor at Tufts University, said aging coal-fired power plants don’t make sense when solar power is cheap. No large-scale coal-fired power plants have been built in the United States since 2013, but there are plans to build a coal-fired power plant in Alaska.
Some of Mr. Trump’s policies are already stalled. of Largest federal coal lease sale Failed for more than 10 years, the court refused Part of President Trump’s attempt to block wind power generation.
Still, industry executives remain bullish.
“This is our time,” said Jimmy Bullock, CEO of Core Natural Resources, one of the nation’s largest coal mining companies.
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Associated Press reporters Meade Gruber in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and MK Wildman in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
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