Key facts
- President Trump plans to invoke the Defense Production Act to support the coal industry.
- The support package is valued at nearly $700 million.
- Funds will be used for upgrading coal power plants and financing new ones.
- A West Coast coal export terminal may receive funding.
- Corporate funds for new coal facilities will be matched.
President Donald Trump is expected to announce on Thursday that he will invoke the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law granting presidents broad authority over industries deemed critical to national security, to direct nearly $700 million to support the U.S. coal industry. The plan includes funding upgrades at more than a dozen coal-fired power plants, financing two new coal plants, and supporting the construction of a West Coast coal export terminal. The White House frames energy policy as a national security issue, aiming to ensure electricity for AI data centers and reduce reliance on other countries. Environmental advocates, such as the Sierra Club, have condemned the plan as a taxpayer-funded subsidy for a polluting industry, while the National Mining Association views the funding as strengthening a fuel source that insulates consumers from energy price volatility. Coal's share of U.S. electricity generation has fallen to less than one-fifth from over half in 1990, as utilities shifted to cheaper natural gas and renewables.