US Plans to Use Emergency Powers to Stop More Coal Closures
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump administration plans to continue using emergency authority to stop coal-fired power plants from retiring, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Energy Department has already issued emergency orders to halt the retirement of two fossil fuel-fired plants, and plans to use the same process to keep others operating, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing internal matters.
Although such orders are typically reserved for natural disasters or war, the agency used them to stop the closure of a Michigan coal-fired power plant owned by Consumers Energy and a Pennsylvania oil-and-gas generator owned by Constellation Energy Corp.
“I think this administration’s policy is going to be to stop the closure of coal plants,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday during an event held by the New York Times. Shutting down coal-fired power plants “that are working today” would drive up electricity prices, and hinder efforts to reindustrialize the US economy, he said.
Some 8.1 gigawatts of coal-fired power, or about 5% of the total US fleet, is set for retirement in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The Trump administration has prioritized expanding the use of a coal and argued that the closure of fossil fuel-powered plants threatens the grid amid an AI-driven demand surge. At the same time, the White House has halted wind projects and rolled out policies that disadvantage solar and other renewable energy sources.
The Energy Department and the White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The moves drew criticism from regulators and environmentalists who said no emergency exists and that such orders would increase consumer electricity costs.
“We’re not going toclose any coal plants, but we’re trying to protect the American consumers to get affordable electricity,” Wright said Wednesday. “We want data centers to be able to locate here. We want semiconductor manufacturing to locate here. We want aluminum and steel production to come back and that takes energy.”
(Adds Wright quote in last paragraph. A previous version corrected spelling of Energy Information Administration in fifth paragraph.)
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