Trump orders Pentagon to buy electricity from coal plants
· Axios
The Trump administration is harnessing military purchase power in some of its most aggressive attempts to stem or even reverse coal-fired electricity's decline.
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Why it matters: Surging electricity demand and fresh White House support could provide a lifeline to the most CO2-heavy power source.
- Environmentalists, energy experts and others criticized President Trump's further acceleration of his fossil fuel drive and warned it would increase energy prices for U.S. families already struggling to pay utility bills.
Driving the news: Trump signed an executive order directing the Pentagon on Wednesday to procure electricity from coal-fired power plants.
- Separately, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced another $175 million for projects to extend the life of coal-fired plants in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and Kentucky.
- And the federally owned electric utility Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced Wednesday its board had voted to continue operating two coal plants previously marked for closure.
State of play: Trump's executive order on coal power follows other coal moves during his second administration, including DOE emergency orders to keep several plants running past their closure dates.
- The U.S. "must ensure that our electric grid — upon which military installations, operations, and defense-industrial production depend — remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources," the order states.
- Trump said the order directs the Department of Defense to "work directly with coal plants on the new power purchasing agreements."
- This would ensure "that we have more reliable power and stronger and more resilient grid power," Trump added. "And we're going to be buying a lot of coal through the military now."
- Meanwhile, a TVA statement noted its keeping the Kingston and Cumberland Fossil Plants running aligned with "the Administration's energy dominance strategy to prioritize domestic energy production that strengthens America's economy and security."
Friction point: Nonprofit science advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists said in a statement the Trump administration's attempts to "prop up struggling" coal-fired power plants would "send high electricity costs higher."
- Matthew Davis, vice president of federal policy at the League of Conservation Voters and a former EPA scientist, said in a statement that coal power has "one of the highest costs of any energy source" and "the worst reliability record" of energy.
- "Instead of forcing the government to waste taxpayer dollars on dirty outdated coal, we should be focusing on increasing access to clean, reliable energy sources like wind and solar that are the fastest, cheapest way to deploy energy onto the grid," he added.
- Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign director Laurie Williams alleged in a statement, "Rather than helping people with their crippling electric bills, Donald Trump is illegally bailing out his coal industry buddies with precious taxpayer dollars."
By the numbers: There are 40-plus coal-fired plants within 100 miles of U.S. military installations, coal industry group America's Power told the New York Times.
What we're watching: Whether the initiatives can halt coal's decline in the U.S. power mix.
- Coal today provides around 16% of U.S electricity, a far cry from it's once-dominant role.
- Part of the answer could come when the Pentagon implements the exec order that lacks specifics.
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