Apr 21, 2025
U.S. President is preparing to sign an executive order allowing coal-fired power plants to keep producing electricity for the time being.
As this post is being written, U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order allowing coal-fired power plants slated for closure to keep producing electricity for the time being. Despite being an industry in decline, coal-fired power generation is not yet dead. And now, it has been given a new lease on life.
Why the Executive Order
Given the availability of natural gas, nuclear, and renewable power generation, why the need for an executive order keeping coal alive? According to multiple news sources, the president has chosen to exercise his 'emergency authority' to help boost power production at a time when demand only continues to grow.
President Trump has long referred to "beautiful" coal and its ability to help the U.S. power industry continue generating electricity. And right now, we need all the electricity we can get thanks to power hungry data centers, burgeoning AI applications, and the drive to replace the internal combustion engine with electric cars.
Observers expect the executive order to accomplish three things:
Identify coal resources on federal lands.
Prioritize coal leasing on federal lands.
Remove existing barriers to coal mining.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum will ostensibly be directed to bring an end to a moratorium on coal leasing enacted during the Obama administration. Burgum is also expected to do away with policies put in place to move America away from coal production and coal- fired power generation.
What It Means to the Industry
Exactly what this means to the power generation industry is largely unknown. We have been anticipating the end of coal for some years now. In fact, the industry has largely transitioned away from coal. But with coal back and play, energy producers have yet another resource for meeting demand.
In the short term, bringing coal back to the table buys power producers more time to come up with alternatives. It gives utilities more time to perfect sustainable energy solutions. Most importantly, it gives those energy producers willing to invest an opportunity to make coal cleaner.
Something Has to Be Done
Whether coal is a viable solution for the long term remains to be seen. What we do know is that something needs to be done. As reported by the Associated Press (AP) this past January, power consumption in the U.S. has continued to grow.
According to their numbers, energy consumption is expected to increase by as much as 20% per year through 2030, just to keep pace with demand among data centers. Indeed, data center growth is largely responsible for powering growth in electric demand over the last two decades.
In addition, we hope to eventually get away from fossil fuels by turning exclusively to renewable energy sources. But in the meantime, we are going to need a lot more electricity to manufacture solar cells, semiconductors, batteries, and the other components we will need for more sustainable energy production.
There Is Always a Tradeoff
The move to keep coal burning across the U.S. is likely to upset a lot of people. Likewise, the decision to transition away from coal made by previous administrations was equally upsetting. The reality is that there is always a tradeoff, no matter how power is generated. No power generation solution is without its downsides.
Coal may not be the ideal solution for generating power. But we cannot escape the fact that modern society demands ever more power with each passing year. For now, it appears as though coal is poised to help keep the grid supplied for years to come.
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