A day after the Trump administration acted to throttle offshore wind farms, it tossed two lifelines to coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel and a favored industry of the president.
The government ordered two coal-burning power plants in Indiana to continue operating past their scheduled closure dates while it also gave hundreds of coal plants an additional five years before they need to prevent toxic chemicals from leaching into sources of drinking water.
The dual moves late on Tuesday were part of the administration’s sweeping effort to bolster the struggling coal industry and avoid having coal plants close on President Trump’s watch.
The day before, the Trump administration had dealt a devastating blow to clean energy by ordering the suspension of five offshore wind projects that were under construction along the East Coast and poised to deliver power to more than 2.5 million homes and businesses.
“Clearly this is a full-throttle attempt to help the fossil fuel industry and to hamper renewable energy,” said Sanya Carley, the director of the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania.
Burning coal produces more planet-warming carbon dioxide than any other form of energy. It also emits mercury, a powerful neurotoxin, and other heavy metals.
While coal plants once generated nearly half of America’s electricity, they produced just 16 percent last year. Hundreds of coal units have retired since the mid-2000s as utilities switched to cheaper natural gas plants and wind and solar power.
Mr. Trump has been intent on reviving what he calls “beautiful, clean coal.” In a series of steps aimed at improving the economics of coal, the administration has opened more federal lands to coal mining, reduced the royalty rates that companies must pay the government to extract coal from public lands, offered $625 million in grants to upgrade coal plants and loosened limits on their emissions.
“Forcing these power plants to stay open is propping up the industry and it will likely lead to a small increase in mining and production, but long-term the trends are that coal is significantly more expensive than other alternatives,” Dr. Carley said.
On Tuesday evening, the Energy Department ordered the two coal plants in Indiana to continue running through March 23, 2026. The two utilities that own the plants were planning to shutter them by Dec. 31.
Chris Wright, the energy secretary, said that the closures would leave the region without enough power this winter, a claim disputed by some energy experts.
“The Trump administration remains committed to swiftly deploying all available tools and authorities to safeguard the reliability, affordability and security of the nation’s energy system,” Mr. Wright said in a statement. “Keeping these coal plants online has the potential to save lives and is just common sense.”
Dr. Carley noted that the utilities had plans in place to produce electricity without the coal plants. She also said that the extra costs of keep the plants running would be borne by Indiana homes and businesses. “It means that all Indiana ratepayers, those who are consuming energy, will pay significantly more for their energy than had the plants closed,” she said.
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One of Mr. Wright’s orders will affect an aging coal-powered unit at the F.B. Culley Generating Station in Warrick County, Ind. CenterPoint Energy, the operator of the plant, had predicted that the retirement of this unit and one other would save its customers $80 million on their electric bills over the next 20 years.
Mr. Wright also ordered the two remaining coal-burning units at the Schahfer Generating Station in Wheatfield, Ind., to keep operating. The owner, Northern Indiana Public Service Company, had intended to close the units as part of a broader plan to pursue more natural gas, wind and solar power, in addition to battery storage.
Mike Roeder, the president of CenterPoint Energy Indiana, said in a statement that the utility would comply with the order and “continue to work collaboratively” with the administration. “Working together, we will help contribute to regional electric reliability efforts to focus on what is most important — safe and reliable service for our customers and fellow Hoosiers during the upcoming winter months,” he said.
Jessica Cantarelli, a spokeswoman for Northern Indiana Public Service Company, said in an email that the utility was “carefully reviewing the details of this order” to determine its effects on customers and employees. “While this development alters the timeline for decommissioning this station, our long-term plan to transition to a more sustainable energy future remains unchanged,” Ms. Cantarelli said.
Since Mr. Trump returned to office in January, the Energy Department has ordered several other coal plants in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington State to stay open 90 days past their scheduled retirement dates. The agency later extended some of these orders after they had expired.
In an earnings report, the majority owner of the coal plant in Michigan estimated that it cost more than $80 million to comply with the orders between May 23 and Sept. 30, or more than $615,000 per day.
Michelle Bloodworth, the president of America’s Power, a coal industry trade group, said that Mr. Wright made the “right call.” She said that studies have shown parts of the power grid risk shortages during the winter. “Maintaining a diverse set of fuel resources, including coal, is critical to ensuring electric reliability, especially during winter storms and other extreme weather events,” she said in a statement.
Also on Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a regulation delaying standards aimed at limiting the leaching of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and mercury into water supplies from coal-ash dump sites.
Coal ash, the residue produced from burning coal, was dumped for years in unlined ponds, landfills and mines, where toxic pollution can leak into water and soil. The federal government began to tighten regulations after spills in North Carolina and Tennessee sent mercury, cadmium, arsenic and other heavy metals from the ash into water supplies.
The Biden administration had ordered coal plants that intended to continue operating through the 2030s to begin meeting strict wastewater standards no later than 2029. The Trump administration called those deadlines “unworkable” and gave utilities five more years to comply.
The action would “strengthen America’s position as the A.I. capital of the world while bolstering industrial competitiveness,” the E.P.A. said in a fact sheet. A boom in the construction of power-hungry data centers for the artificial intelligence industry is driving up electricity demand.
Thomas Cmar, an attorney with Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, said the delay could result in an increase in cancer, cardiovascular disease and other health issues linked to coal ash discharges. “It means that the 3 million people who still rely on drinking water that’s found to be contaminated by coal ash wastewater discharges will have rivers and lakes and streams not cleaned up,” he said.
Ms. Bloodworth of the coal lobby said the industry wants the E.P.A. to eliminate the wastewater standards entirely. Complying with them would be so costly as to drive some power plants to close, she said.
Lisa Friedman is a Times reporter who writes about how governments are addressing climate change and the effects of those policies on communities.
The post Trump Tosses Lifelines to the Struggling Coal Industry appeared first on New York Times.
