Trump Coal Executive Order Draws Skepticism on Impact on Demand

President Donald Trump’s recent executive order promoting the use of coal sparked optimism from states looking to meet high energy demand from AI data centers, but atrophying appetite for the struggling fossil fuel could limit its effect.

The April 8 order, titled in part “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry,” promotes technology expansion and instructs departments and agencies to identify where coal-powered infrastructure is available to support artificial intelligence needs. The departments are also expected to consider revising regulations that discourage coal production.

The order comes as states such as West Virginia weigh their own efforts to revitalize coal.

“Our electric plants have been discouraged from performing at optimum levels, and they have been all but coerced into shutting down or not operating at all,” said Chris Hamilton, president of the West Virginia Coal Association. That has left “a huge void” in “our generating capacity,” he said.

But there’s a lingering question of how feasible it is to resurrect an industry that’s been steadily declining, in part due to competition with cheaper natural gas.

“This executive order favoring coal may have less impact than it looks like it could on its face because of the existing overall market climate for coal,” said Emily Hammond, former Energy Department deputy general counsel under President Joe Biden and current law professor at George Washington University.

The decline of coal also doesn’t meet the definition of “emergency” that recent executive orders claim is happening, said Joel Eisen, an energy law professor at the University of Richmond.

“We have never had a situation where an industry that has simply become uneconomic has been resuscitated by declaring an energy emergency,” he said.

State Reactions

The attorneys general of West Virginia and Kentucky wrote a joint letter praising Trump’s executive order, saying it “reflects that a misguided climate ideology cannot prevail over the livelihoods of everyday Americans and energy reliability.”

It also lines up with several pieces of proposed legislation in West Virginia. They include bills and resolutions aimed at expanding data center development in the state, creating a “coal renaissance,” and providing economic incentives such as tax credits for coal-fired electric utilities that supply data centers.

“There are things within the legislation that gives coal a tremendous boost, while again creating opportunity and environment to invite and secure multiple data centers,” Hamilton said of the data center bill.

Other states are also looking to coal for energy. Georgia Power Co. said in its most recent plan to meet energy needs that it intends to extend the operation of coal and natural gas units through at least 2034.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed a law in 2024 that similarly prevented the closure of two coal-fired generators.

Big Picture

The Trump administration has moved quickly to pivot from the Biden-era prioritization of funding clean energy projects and transitioning away from fossil fuels.

“This is a pretty strong statement that [agencies] should get rid of anything that could be deemed an anti-coal regulation, and the agencies are going to make a big effort to do that,” said Alexandra Klass, an energy law professor at the University of Michigan and Biden’s former deputy general counsel at DOE. “What those look like remain to be seen.”

For instance, neither agencies nor the president can refuse to complete review under the National Environmental Policy Act. However, they can try to create categorical exclusions from NEPA for elements of the coal leasing or mining processes, she said.

Klass added there might also be proposed rules to “streamline” the permitting process—an issue elected officials and the courts have repeatedly wrestled with.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright already announced a series of steps he plans to take, including reinstating a National Coal Council, investing in coal, and designating coal as a critical material in steelmaking. Trump additionally exempted power plants across the country beginning in 2027 from strict air pollution requirements.

However, presidents “cannot change the law using an executive order,” Eisen said. They can merely direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—which regulates the interstate transmission of natural gas, oil, and electricity—to “consider making an order to keep coal plants open under this emergency authority under the Federal Power Act,” he said.

Opposing Priorities

While Trump’s priorities align with those of some states, others are still seeking to limit their climate footprint.

California, Michigan, and 22 other states have ongoing clean energy goals. Maryland for example is working toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 while Nevada seeks to have 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050.

“Right now, Congress has not weighed in and the courts have not weighed in, and nothing in the executive order makes anything that current states are doing that phase out coal illegal,” Klass said.

The executive order also doesn’t change coal’s high price tag.

“Power generation from new-build coal plants is over double the cost from cleaner sources such as solar, wind and natural gas,” according to an analysis from BloombergNEF.

“The notion that any state, including West Virginia, is going to be able to successfully maintain and grow their coal industries is ludicrous,” said Jason Rylander of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “Coal has been in decline for decades because it is not cost effective.”

— with assistance from Drew Hutchinson