Trump DOE Steers $500 Million to 13 Coal Plants as Anti-Wind Spending Hits $2.7 Billion
Updated
Updated · Mother Jones · Jul 13
Trump DOE Steers $500 Million to 13 Coal Plants as Anti-Wind Spending Hits $2.7 Billion
1 articles · Updated · Mother Jones · Jul 13
Summary
$500 million from the Defense Production Act was set aside last month to expand 13 coal plants and support a coal export terminal in Oakland, followed a week later by $3.6 million for nine plant refurbishments.
The coal push sits inside a broader Trump energy shift that has directed $1.1 billion toward coal support while spending $2.7 billion to halt offshore wind through four deals since March.
DOE says the moves restore reliable, affordable power and reverse what it calls subsidy-driven fossil plant closures, while the White House argues offshore wind projects were unbuildable on national security grounds.
Critics say taxpayers are paying to keep uneconomic coal plants alive and then facing higher power bills, citing research that 99% of U.S. coal plants cost more to run than replacing them with renewables.
The spending adds to other fossil-fuel support, including a $1.5 billion coal-gasification loan, a Pentagon coal-power order, and lower federal coal royalties that Wyoming says could cut its revenue by $50 million a year.