There are 206 coal-burning power plants left in the United States, which supply about 16 percent of the country’s energy. Experts say burning more doesn’t make financial sense.
After declaring a national energy emergency on his first day in office, President Trump said Thursday that coal could be a fuel source for new electric generating plants.
He announced a plan to issue emergency declarations to build power plants to meet a projected increase in electricity demand for artificial intelligence.
“They can fuel it with anything they want, and they may have coal as a backup — good, clean coal,” Mr. Trump said in a virtual appearance at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He added that if gas and oil pipelines get “blown up,” coal could be used as a backup energy source.
“We have more coal than anybody,” Mr. Trump said. “We have more oil and gas than anybody.”
While the United States is the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas, and while it has more coal reserves than any other country, it’s only the fourth-largest producer of coal, behind China, India and Indonesia.
But reliance on fossil fuels like coal made the United States one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, which have irreversibly heated the planet and driven global climate change.
Despite Mr. Trump’s talk about building coal plants, the United States has drastically reduced its coal generating capacity in recent years. Most of the decline came because natural gas, and now renewables like solar and wind, were cheaper sources of energy. A 2023 study showed that 99 percent of U.S. coal plants were more expensive to run than renewable replacements.
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U.S. Coal-Fired Power Plants
With planned retirement for coal units
Wash.
No retirement planned
Maine
Mont.
N.D.
Ore.
Vt.
N.H.
Minn.
Idaho
Mass.
N.Y.
S.D.
Wis.
Conn.
Mich.
R.I.
Wyo.
Pa.
Iowa
N.J.
Neb.
Utah
Nev.
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Ind.
Ill.
Calif.
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
Mo.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ariz.
S.C.
Ark.
N.M.
Ga.
Ala.
Miss.
Texas
La.
Fla.
Alaska
Hawaii
Coal Power Plants
With planned retirements or reductions
Wash.
No retirements planned
Maine
Mont.
N.D.
Ore.
Minn.
Vt.
N.H.
Idaho
Mass.
N.Y.
S.D.
Wis.
Conn.
Mich.
Wyo.
R.I.
Pa.
Iowa
N.J.
Neb.
Utah
Nev.
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Ind.
Ill.
Calif.
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
Mo.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ariz.
S.C.
Ark.
N.M.
Ga.
Ala.
Miss.
Texas
La.
Fla.
Capacity
3,660 megawatts
Alaska
Hawaii
Coal Power Plants
With planned retirements or reductions
No retirements planned
Wash.
Maine
Mont.
N.D.
Vt.
Ore.
Minn.
N.H.
Idaho
Mass.
N.Y.
S.D.
Wis.
Conn.
Mich.
Wyo.
R.I.
Pa.
Iowa
N.J.
Neb.
Nev.
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Ind.
Ill.
Utah
Calif.
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
Mo.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ariz.
S.C.
Ark.
N.M.
Ga.
Ala.
Miss.
Texas
La.
Fla.
Capacity
3,660 megawatts
Alaska
Hawaii
Coal Power Plants
With planned retirements or reductions
No retirements planned
Wash.
Maine
Mont.
N.D.
Vt.
Ore.
Minn.
N.H.
Idaho
N.Y.
Mass.
S.D.
Wis.
Mich.
Wyo.
Conn.
Pa.
Iowa
N.J.
Neb.
Nev.
Ohio
Md.
Del.
Ind.
Ill.
Calif.
Utah
W.Va.
Colo.
Va.
Kan.
Mo.
Ky.
N.C.
Tenn.
Okla.
Ariz.
S.C.
Ark.
N.M.
Ga.
Ala.
Miss.
Texas
La.
Fla.
Capacity
3,660 megawatts
Alaska
Hawaii
Coal Power Plants
With planned retirements or reductions
No retirements planned
Capacity
3,660 megawatts
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
Note: Data as of October 2024. Includes power plants using other fuel sources in addition to coal.
By Mira Rojanasakul/The New York Times