Trump’s Push to Keep Coal Plants Open Is Costing Hundreds of Millions
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- The Trump administration has issued and repeatedly renewed orders to keep five aging coal plants in four states open beyond their scheduled closures, citing an alleged "energy emergency" threatening U.S. electricity reliability.
- These emergency directives have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, largely borne by ratepayers, despite some plants not burning coal or requesting to end their orders.
- The administration’s push to revive coal includes rolling back emissions regulations and funding plant upgrades, despite coal’s health risks and industry decline.
- A legal challenge from Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, and nonprofit groups argues the Energy Department’s orders are illegal and that no energy emergency exists; the case centers on the J.H. Campbell plant in Michigan but affects all five plants.
- Critics contend that using emergency orders to keep coal plants open is neither efficient nor environmentally sound for meeting electricity demand and grid reliability.