US President Donald Trump is expected to announce a major new investment in coal-fired power plants today.
Under the plan, first reported by Bloomberg, the government will distribute up to $700 million in funds available through the Cold War-era Defense Production Act to a dozen existing coal plants, as well as funding the construction of two new ones, and a West Coast export terminal.
It’s the administration’s latest step to prolong the life of an industry that most energy experts agree is inexorably in decline — in large part due to record natural gas production, which competes directly with coal in the power market.
In one case, a coal plant in Indiana that was ordered by the administration to stay running beyond its scheduled retirement date will add $1 billion to customer bills over the next two years, its owners said. Notwithstanding the administration’s fixation with coal, solar remains by far the fastest-growing source of new electricity generation in the country.
