WASHINGTON, February 12, 2026 — President Trump on Wednesday directed the Department of War to purchase electricity from coal-fired power plants, a move signaling a renewed push for the fossil fuel and sparking debate over energy policy and climate change. The administration also announced $175 million in funding to revitalize coal plants across several states.
Coal’s Comeback: Military Power and Plant Revitalization
The White House aims to secure power for military installations while boosting the struggling coal industry.
- An executive order mandates the Department of War to contract with coal plants for electricity.
- $175 million will be allocated to upgrade coal plants in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio.
- The move comes amid a broader effort to roll back clean energy initiatives and challenge climate change policies.
The executive order instructs Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright to establish long-term contracts with coal-fired plants to power military installations and critical defense facilities. According to the White House, this will “ensure military installations and critical defense facilities have uninterrupted, on-demand baseload power.”
The Department of Energy will also distribute $175 million across six projects designed to “extend the useful life of coal-fired power plants” in rural and remote communities, including West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Ohio, the agency stated.
Hundreds of coal plants have shuttered in recent years as natural gas and renewable energy sources have become more affordable and readily available. While coal remains relatively inexpensive to produce, it is considered the dirtiest fossil fuel, releasing significant amounts of particulate air pollution, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and nearly twice the carbon dioxide of natural gas.
Trump unveiled these initiatives at a White House event where he was presented with an “Undisputed Champion of Coal” award by the Washington Coal Club, a pro-coal advocacy group.
This action continues the administration’s broader strategy to reverse the transition to cleaner energy and dismantle efforts to address climate change. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that coal accounted for roughly 17% of the nation’s electricity generation in 2025, a steep drop from approximately 50% in 2000.
The announcement precedes the administration’s anticipated repeal of the endangerment finding—the longstanding government affirmation that greenhouse gases pose a threat to public health and welfare.
Simultaneously, Trump is pursuing measures to hinder the development of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources, including ongoing legal challenges to offshore wind projects on the East Coast and California’s emission standards.
During Wednesday’s event, Trump asserted that coal kept the power on during recent winter storms, while “solar and wind totally collapsed.” He added, “I’m not a fan of those crazy windmills that are all made in China.”
However, energy costs are rising nationwide, and renewable energy sources represent the fastest, cheapest, and cleanest options available, according to Julie McNamara, associate policy director of the climate and energy program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She characterized the president’s order as a “staggering, staggering waste of money, time and opportunity.”
“Forcing the use of increasingly unreliable and relentlessly uneconomic coal plants will risk outages and send high electricity costs higher,” McNamara said. “Recklessly slashing health, safety and environmental standards will harm people’s health and the environment. Communities that produce coal she said, need “actual, durable transition solutions.”
Ted Kelly, director and lead counsel for U.S. Clean Energy at the Environmental Defense Fund, argued that the administration’s actions prioritize the coal industry’s profits over the financial well-being of American families and businesses.
“This absurd misuse of public funds will lead to more air pollution, more asthma and higher electricity bills — all for ancient coal plants that barely work,” Kelly said. “At the same time, the Trump administration is blocking and canceling the cleanest, most affordable energy options from the grid, driving up costs even higher.”
According to an analysis by Energy Innovation, 99% of coal plants are more expensive to operate than replacing them with renewable energy. A separate analysis from Grid Strategies found that maintaining retired coal plants could cost ratepayers over $3 billion annually.
Some within the coal industry expressed appreciation for the new order. Kayla Blackford, a worker at Bear Run Mine in Cougar, Indiana, stated during Wednesday’s event, “As demand increases and our lives become increasingly electrified, America needs to generate more electricity, not less. For years, coal miners have felt the weight of policies that made our future uncertain. Over the past year that weight has begun to lift.”
However, even some industry stakeholders have raised concerns. Last month, the owners of the Craig Generating Station in Colorado claimed the Department of Energy violated their Constitutional rights by ordering them to continue operating a coal-fired generator they had planned to retire for over a decade.
The owners asserted that the unit is no longer economically viable, and the cost of keeping it online will ultimately be borne by local ratepayers.
