Trump to restart MD coal plant with federal funds

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Millions in federal funds will be used to restart Allegany County’s AES Warrior Run coal plant, President Donald Trump announced Thursday.

“Today, we’re taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal,” Trump said from the Oval Office.

Warrior Run is a 229-megawatt facility in Cumberland that shuttered in June 2024 as Maryland’s last operational coal plant.

Trump’s ability to send the dollars to states comes from an invocation of the Defense Production ⁠Act — a Cold War-era defense power that gives presidents authority over national-security-related industries — to infuse $700 million into coal mines and facilities in states, including Maryland, Alaska and West Virginia, and support the creation of a coal export terminal in Northern California. 

Beyond the terminal, the president said Thursday that the investment will “protect” 14 coal plants and 42 coal mines, and allow for the creation of two new plants. He said this will spur 14,000 jobs and save Americans $50 billion in electricity costs.

“Our action will allow these facilities to invest in upgrades, will extend their operational lives for decades into the future, reinforce the reliability of our electric grid … and most importantly, keep our electricity prices very low for the American people,” Trump said.

In a statement prior to Trump’s announcement, Senate Republican leadership hailed the decision as a meaningful step toward increasing Maryland’s energy supply.

“More reliable generation means more supply, and more supply means downward pressure on energy costs,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey Jr., R-Upper Eastern Shore, said in a statement Thursday morning. “Where Governor Moore and Annapolis Democrats have spent years sending terrible market signals, piling on mandates, layering surcharges, and making Maryland hostile to energy investment, the federal government is stepping in to do what Maryland’s leaders have refused to do: invest in the reliable baseload power our state desperately needs.” 

Republicans also emphasized the impact that skilled trades, plant operations and well-paying jobs at Warrior Run will have on Allegany County, which has suffered industrial losses over the years.

“This is exactly the kind of investment Allegany County has needed and deserved,” said Senator Mike McKay, R-Western Maryland. “Real jobs, real investment, and real power generation coming back to our community.”

The president said he was sending “nearly $200 million” to restart Warrior Run and build two additional plants in Alaska and West Virginia. The Senate Minority Caucus said in its news release that Trump was allocating “approximately $85 million” to restart the facility.

Although they celebrated the investment, Senate Republicans questioned how Warrior Run’s output will be directed once operations resume and expressed hope that power from the plant will flow to PJM Interconnection’s grid to lower costs for Maryland utility customers.

PJM Interconnection operates the electrical grid that powers Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Although Republicans are eager for Maryland to bear the fruits of the president’s action, climate advocates decried the plant’s reopening as fiscally and environmentally irresponsible.

“Trump continues to drive up energy prices by throwing taxpayer money at expensive, old pollutive energy sources like coal while simultaneously suppressing clean, affordable, abundant modern energy technologies,” Jamie DeMarco, a Maryland lobbyist and climate advocate, said in an interview with The Daily Record.

Lena Moffitt, executive director of the climate advocacy organization Evergreen Action, said investing $700 million into coal is akin to “throwing a lifeline to a ship that has already sunk.”

“The market has already rejected coal as cheaper, cleaner alternatives continue to outcompete the most expensive, dirty fuel source,” Moffit said in a statement Thursday. “There’s no coal revival waiting around the corner—just polluters collecting a handout while their friends run the White House and Americans foot the bill.”

This story has been updated.