Trump Orders Pentagon Coal Shift, Driving Up Costs and Legal Fights

President Donald Trump has signed a coal order directing the Pentagon to prioritize electricity purchases from coal-fired power plants. This policy is aimed at propping up the struggling fossil fuel industry that has faced decades of decline. The administration asserts that it is necessary to prevent power shortages amid rising demand, particularly from data centres and industrial users.

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How Trump’s Pentagon Coal Order Fuels Rising Costs and Coal Plant Subsidies

To justify the Pentagon’s coal order, the administration has utilized a national energy emergency declaration. Plants previously slated for retirement due to their inability to compete with cheaper natural gas and renewables can comeout to play. Under this framework, the Department of Energy is also deploying $175 million in coal plant subsidies to upgrade six ageing facilities across West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia.

Trump stated that:

“We’re going to be buying a lot of coal through the military. It’s going to be less expensive and actually much more effective than what we have been using for many, many years.”

While the President hailed the move as a way to ensure a stronger and more resilient grid, the financial reality is more complex. Coal production has plummeted by more than half since 2008, and output decreased 11.3% year over year.

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The most immediate concern for American households is the projected electricity price impact. Independent analyses from groups like Grid Strategies suggest that keeping these uneconomic plants online could cost ratepayers between $3 billion and $6 billion annually.

According to the League of Conservation Voters:

“By directing the Department of Defense to enter contracts with dirty, expensive, and unreliable U.S. coal-fired power plants, the Trump administration risks further driving up energy prices for American families struggling to pay the bills.”

Constitutional Clashes: Will the Coal Order Prevail?

The energy emergency order has triggered lawsuits from the attorney general’s office. A Colorado coal plant, in a regulatory filing, argues that it was being forced to shoulder the costs of operating the plant and terms it as an unconstitutional taking of private property.

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The outcome remains uncertain, but for now, ratepayers should brace themselves to cater for the extra costs required in running these coal plants.