Austin WrightCoal is having an unusual moment in Washington, but not because prices are surging on an exchange. The Trump administration is directing nearly 700 million dollars in federal money into the coal industry, using a Korean War era law to prop up aging plants, back new construction, and try to force open a long stalled export terminal in California.
Key Takeaways
- 425 million dollars in Defense Production Act funds will go to 13 existing coal plants across ten states.
- 75 million dollars is earmarked for the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal, a California export project blocked for nearly 20 years.
- 185 million dollars in separate Energy Department grants would fund two new coal plants and one restart, the first new coal builds in the US since 2013.
- Coal's share of US power generation has fallen from more than 50 percent in 2007 to roughly 16 to 17 percent today.
- Peabody Energy, the largest US coal producer, still faces a Zacks industry ranking in the bottom 3 percent of tracked sectors.
Where the Money Is Going
The bulk of Thursday's package, 425 million dollars, flows through the Defense Production Act to 13 operating coal plants spread across West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Utilities on the receiving end include Duke Energy, Hallador Energy, Oklahoma Gas and Electric, and a subsidiary of American Electric Power. Separately, the Energy Department plans 185 million dollars in grants toward two brand new coal plants, one in Alaska led by Terra Energy Center Corp and one in Mount Storm, West Virginia led by TerraPurus Inc, plus a restart of the AES Warrior Run station near Cumberland, Maryland. With matching private funds, that piece of the plan totals 386 million dollars. If either new plant gets built, it would mark the first new coal generation constructed in the country since 2013.
A Wartime Statute Finds a New Target
The Defense Production Act dates back to steel mobilization during the Korean War and has since been pulled out for pandemic era face masks, solar panel supply chains, and the baby formula shortage. No administration has leaned on it for energy policy as heavily as this one. Trump previously invoked it to try reviving offshore oil drilling near California, and in April 2026 issued a Presidential Determination naming coal supply chains and baseload power generation essential to national defense. That followed a February order pushing the Department of War toward power purchase agreements with coal plants serving military bases, and a January revival of the National Coal Council, disbanded by the Biden administration in 2021 and now chaired by Peabody Energy chief executive Jim Grech.
The administration's case leans almost entirely on artificial intelligence and grid strain. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has cast the AI buildout as a security issue requiring steady baseload power, and Trump has repeatedly called coal
