HomeNewsTrump signs executive orders to boost U.S. coal as power demand rises

Trump signs executive orders to boost U.S. coal as power demand rises

4/9/2025
  • US power demand rising from artificial intelligence
  • Coal's share of power generation less than 20%, versus 50% in 2000
  • Orders to direct coal leasing plans on US lands

U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders on Tuesday that aim to boost coal production. Coal-burning plants generate less than 20% of U.S. electricity, a drop from 50% in 2000, according to the Energy Information Administration, as fracking and other drilling techniques have hiked production of natural gas. Growth in solar and wind power has also cut coal use.

"We're bringing back an industry that was abandoned," Trump said at the White House, standing in front of about three dozen mostly male coal miners wearing hard hats. "We're going to put the miners back to work," Trump said about a workforce that has sunk to about 40,000 from 70,000 ten years ago.

Trump, a Republican, campaigned on a promise to increase U.S. energy output and has sought to roll back energy and environmental regulations since taking office on January 20. U.S. electricity demand is rising for the first time in two decades on growth in power-hungry data centers for artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, and cryptocurrencies.

The orders include efforts to save coal plants that were likely to be retired, including by unlocking authorities in the 1950 Defense Production Act to boost coal production.

They also direct Energy Secretary Chris Wright to determine whether coal used in steel production is a "critical mineral." Allowing that classification, typically reserved for minerals needed for high-tech defense systems, for metallurgical coal could set the table for use of emergency powers to raise production.

After Trump signed the orders, Wright's department made $200 billion in financing available for its loan programs office including for new coal technologies.bUnder previous presidents, the loans have only rarely been used for carbon capture at coal plants.

The orders direct Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to acknowledge the end of a moratorium that paused new coal leasing, which allows private companies to buy the right to extract coal, on federal lands, and to prioritize the leasing.

Shares in U.S. coal producers Peabody and Core Natural Resources CNR.N each shot up about 9% after the news.

Still, it is uncertain what demand there is for any greater U.S. coal output, with hundreds of domestic coal-burning plants having closed this decade on cheaper fuels and concerns about future regulations even if Trump's administration dismantles current ones.

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