The Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $625 million investment to expand the coal industry in the wake of reindustrialization and the AI race.
“Beautiful, clean coal will be essential to powering America’s reindustrialization and winning the AI race,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “These funds will help keep our nation’s coal plants operating and will be vital to keeping electricity prices low and the lights on without interruption. Coal built the greatest industrial engine the world has ever known, and with President Trump’s leadership, it will help do so again.”
Of the $625 million, $350 million will modernize coal power units, $175 million will support coal in rural communities, $50 million will support wastewater systems for coal plants, $25 million will provide economic flexibility for coal plants, and another $25 million will be used for testing natural gas co-firing systems.
The Department of the Interior has also opened 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal leasing in an effort to restore energy dominance and support domestic supply chains.
“President Trump promised to put American energy workers first, and today we’re delivering,” Secretary Doug Burgum said of the development. “By reducing the royalty rate for coal, increasing coal acres available for leasing, and unlocking critical minerals from mine waste, we are strengthening our economy, protecting national security, and ensuring that communities from Montana to Alabama benefit from good-paying jobs. Washington doesn’t build prosperity, American workers and entrepreneurs do, and we’re giving them the tools to succeed.”
In April, President Trump signed an executive order to reinvigorate the coal industry. “It is a national priority to support the domestic coal industry by removing Federal regulatory barriers that undermine coal production, encouraging the utilization of coal to meet growing domestic energy demands, increasing American coal exports, and ensuring that Federal policy does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired electricity generation,” the order explained.
