OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:14 PM – Monday, September 29, 2025
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $625 million investment aimed at revitalizing the U.S. coal industry. This initiative is part of the Trump administration’s broader strategy to bolster energy production and support coal communities nationwide.
The Energy Department made the announcement on Monday, in line with President Donald Trump’s April executive order, which emphasized the need for increased “domestic energy production, including coal.”
“Beautiful, clean coal will be essential to powering America’s reindustrialization and winning the AI race,” stated Energy Secretary Chris Wright. “These funds will help keep our nation’s coal plants operating and will be vital to keeping electricity prices low and the lights on without interruption.”
“Coal built the greatest industrial engine the world has ever known, and with President Trump’s leadership, it will help do so again,” Wright continued.
As outlined in the Department of Energy announcement, the funding will be utilized as follows:
- $350M for Coal Recommissioning and Retrofit: for projects to demonstrate readiness to recommission or modernize coal power units and provide near-term electric power reliability and capacity.
- $175M for Rural Capacity and Energy Affordability Projects: for coal power projects that provide direct benefits of energy affordability, reliability, and resiliency in rural communities.
- $50M to support the Development and Implementation of Advanced Wastewater Management Systems: to demonstrate scalable, cost-effective wastewater management systems that enables coal plants to extend their service life, reduce operational costs, and enhance commercial byproduct recovery.
- $25M for Engineering and Implementation of Dual Firing Retrofits: to enable coal power plants to seamlessly switch between fuels, achieve full steam capacity, and economic flexibility to extend plant lifespans.
- $25M for Development and Testing of Natural Gas Cofiring Systems: to support investments that will maintain boiler efficiency and reliability when utilizing 100% natural gas.
Wright went on to note that the programs are also planning to implement “pollution control,” allowing coal plants to operate “cleaner and better.”
“Coal just makes the world go round. And they’ve tried to strangle it, particularly the Biden administration, starting with the Obama administration,” Wright added. “Let’s stop wishing it would go away. It’s critical to our country.”
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