Overview
- President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on Thursday to announce a package that directs roughly $700 million in federal support to revive U.S. coal power and export infrastructure.
- The plan allocates about $425 million for upgrades at 13 coal plants, roughly $185–200 million in Energy Department grants to build two new units and restart another, and $75 million to advance the West Gateway export terminal in Oakland.
- The White House frames the move as a national security and reliability action tied to rising electricity demand from data centers and to reduce supply risks from geopolitics.
- Industry groups praised the announcement as a jobs and supply stabilization measure while environmental organizations called it a taxpayer subsidy for a polluting industry and said they will pursue legal and public challenges.
- The initiative reverses decades of market decline for coal—which fell from more than half of U.S. generation historically to roughly the mid‑teens in recent years—and implementation faces near‑term legal fights, local opposition to the Oakland terminal, and questions about long‑run costs for consumers.