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Fact Check Team: President Trump's Push to Revive the Coal Industry
The Defense Department must buy coal-based electricity to ensure reliable baseload power at military sites, supporting coal plants amid a 15% regional mining job loss, analysts said.
- On February 11, 2026, President Donald Trump ordered the Defense Department to sign long-term power-purchase agreements so the Pentagon buys more coal-generated electricity.
- The administration argued the White House fact sheet said the move aims to secure reliable, always-available 'baseload' power and strengthen grid resilience and national security, paired with roughly 175 million from the Department of Energy to extend coal plants in Kentucky and West Virginia.
- Analysts told The New York Times that even if the military sourced all its electricity from coal, it would equal only about three percent of U.S. coal-power capacity, while federal energy data show generators still plan additional retirements.
- The energy cabinet ordered several coal-fired plants in Kentucky and West Virginia to upgrade or stay open, which could support specific facilities near military bases, while over 300 miners lost jobs in Cumberland recently.
- Experts warn federal support could delay some plant closures but won’t reverse coal’s decline, while environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices call it a handout as Eastern Kentucky’s coal lifeblood rapidly slips away.
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Fox 25 Oklahoma City+7 Reposted by 7 other sources
Fact Check Team: President Trump's push to revive the coal industry
President Trump is ordering the Pentagon to buy more electricity from coal-fired power plants, part of a broader effort to slow the industry’s decline and keep
·Oklahoma City, United States
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Trump administration keeping power plants open in effort to befriend coal industry
President and CEO of Peabody Energy Jim Grech presents an award to President Donald Trump at a Champion of Coal event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, February 11, 2026.(Molly Riley/White House / White House)Last week, the White House directed money to upgrade coal-fired power plants in Kentucky and West Virginia while using an executive order to tell military installations to buy electricity from coal-fired power plants instead o…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources11
Leaning Left1Leaning Right7Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution78% Right
Bias Distribution
- 78% of the sources lean Right
78% Right
11%
11%
R 78%
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