Trump to Pentagon: Use More Coal Power

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Written by John Egan for IIR News Intelligence (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

In his latest move to boost coal and coal-fired electricity, President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued an executive order for the Department of Defense to increase its use of coal-fired electricity. Separately, the Department of Energy announced $175 million in funding to support coal and coal-fired generators.

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Coal for Defense

In his administration's latest effort to boost coal and coal-fired generation, President Donald Trump, flanked by members of his administration, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and a handful of coal-industry executives wearing hard hats, signed an executive order in the Oval Office Wednesday directing the Department of Defense (DOD) to increase its use of electricity generated by coal-fired power plants.

The order, short on details, instructed the secretaries of defense and energy to "seek to procure power from the United States coal generation fleet by approving long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs), or entering into any similar contractual agreements, with coal-fired energy production facilities to serve (DOD) installations or other mission-critical facilities, with priority given to projects that enhance: grid reliability and blackout prevention; on-site fuel security; and mission assurance for defense and intelligence capabilities."

In a separate ceremony in front of a larger audience that day, Trump welcomed a group of coal miners, business leaders and pro-coal congressional leaders into a White House auditorium, saying coal "got mistreated for a very long time. But you've never had a better friend in the White House than me." He also instructed those present to "do a PR job (for coal) because it had a bad reputation for a while." In his administration, the president continued, "we're not allowed to say the word 'coal' unless it is preceded by 'beautiful clean.'"

Trump also slammed former President Joe Biden's efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. "If we stayed on their ruinous path, we would have seen mass suffering and rolling blackouts all over the country. We would have had blackouts right now all over the country."

In his executive order, Trump took his customary swipe at intermittent sources of electricity generation, such as wind and solar, saying they endangered national security: "The United States must ensure that our electric grid--upon which military installations, operations and defense-industrial production depend--remains resilient and reliable, and not reliant on intermittent energy sources. The grid is the foundation of our national defense as well as our economic stability. Any prolonged disruption caused by energy shortages, foreign supply dependencies or intermittent generation threatens the operational readiness of our Armed Forces and the safety of the American people."

Questions Remain: How?

Electricity is unlike any other commodity in several ways, including its inability to be stored, typically. It must be consumed immediately after it is generated. Unless a military facility is directly connected to a coal-fired generator, or has one onsite, it appears the Pentagon would have to overcome significant technological, financial and logistical hurdles if it wants to increase its use of coal-fired electricity.

Decades of federal and state environmental laws and regulations, and the rise of renewables and natural gas as cost-effective alternatives, have crippled coal's ability to generate cost-effective electricity. Putting a mothballed coal-fired generator back into service is neither quick nor cheap.

In the U.S., the use of coal to generate electricity has declined steadily since peaking during the last years of the second George W. Bush presidency, around 2007.

Click on the image at right to see a chart showing declining consumption of coal by electricity generators in the 21st century.

An article in The New York Times cited Michelle Bloodworth, president of the coal industry trade group America's Power, as estimating that there were more than 40 coal-burning power plants within 100 miles of military installations around the country. Generators that sign long-term contracts with the Pentagon would gain some financial certainty that would allow their owners to invest in them, she said. It would also provide a steadier source of demand for coal mines.

"These long-term contracts will be a major aid to providing long-term certainty," Bloodworth said. "It will very much keep the coal supply chain healthy."

But in order to conclusively show that military facilities were upping their use of coal-fired electricity, there would need to be direct transmission connections between the power stations and the military installations. It is not clear how many of those connections exist. Typically, power generated by a power station goes onto the electric grid, for delivery to customers. On the grid, coal-fired power is mixed with electricity generated by nuclear power, natural gas and renewables.

It sems unlikely that new transmission lines could be built directly connecting coal-fired power plants to military installations, given the cost and time involved. Those same obstacles make it doubtful that a grassroot, coal-fired power plant could be built exclusively to serve a military base.

Coal power could be stored in battery energy storage systems (BESS), which are fast being announced and deployed in the U.S. Those systems could store electricity generated from any fuel, but most of those existing or announced systems are tied to renewable generation.

Tuesday's order builds on previous pro-coal executive orders from Trump, such as his Day One declaration of a national energy emergency and his April 7, 2025, order to reinvigorate America's coal industry.

Tied to the White House events was a separate Department of Energy announcement on Tuesday that $175 million would be invested in modernizing, retrofitting and extending the useful life of coal-fired power plants that serve "rural and remote" communities in West Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina and Kentucky. That money would come from a $625 million funding announcement DOE issued last September that supported, among other things, the commissioning, recommissioning, retrofitting and modernizing coal-fired generators.

There is some evidence that the Trump administration's "war for coal" has had some success: Last year, coal increased its share of the electric fuel mix, For more on that, see January 27, 2026, article - Coal Use by U.S. Power Plants: Winning a Battle but Still Losing the War?

But it remains an open question how far the Trump administration's efforts can reinvigorate coal and coal-fired generation. According to the current Short-Term Energy Outlook from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coal's share of the electric fuel mix has fallen steadily over the years, to about 17% in 2025, less than half of what it was at its high point in the early years of this century, when it was slightly over 50%. The agency forecasts coal's market share of electricity generation will continue to slowly decline, to about 16% in 2026 and approximately 15% in 2027.

Coal mining employment has plummeted about 78% over the last four decades, to a current level of about 40,000 from a high of nearly 180,000 during the second Reagan presidency. It is unclear what effect Trump's latest order could have on coal miner employment, as many of the jobs lost over the last four decades have resulted from increased automation in the mining process, as well as increased price competition from natural gas and renewable energy.

Further, no companies have announced plans to build new coal-fired generation in the U.S. for years, though there are hefty capital outlays for in-plant improvements and upgrades.

Turnabout is Fair Play

In issuing Tuesday's executive order, Trump is seeking to do, on a smaller scale, what Biden did to the federal government's procurement process in support of his favored fuels. In late 2021, Biden issued an executive order changing the federal procurement process to support the purchase of sustainable materials, electric vehicles and carbon-free electricity.

Biden's order instructed all federal agencies to, among other things, ensure that all electricity consumed by the federal government would be 100% carbon-free by 2030. At the time, roughly 40% of electricity came from carbon-free sources.

Key Takeaways

• -The Trump administration issued an executive order February 11 for the Department of Defense to increase its use of electricity generated by coal.
• These initiatives have been advanced to ensure the U.S. has an adequate amount of dispatchable, baseload electric generation to support its economy and help the U.S. "win" the AI race.
• There are numerous technological, financial and logistical questions that were unanswered in the president's Feb. 11 executive order.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).