Federal support props up 90 of 184 operating U.S. coal plants

By Grace Kim

Ninety of the 184 operating U.S. coal plants connected to the grid have been propped up, directly or indirectly, by the Trump administration, according to an Environmental Defense Fund analysis. The interventions include Clean Air Act exemptions, $950 million in announced Department of Energy support and emergency orders that have blocked closures.

EDF describes coal as the country’s least cost-effective and most heavily polluting source of electricity. The report says continued operation prolongs public-health damage and climate change while shifting costs to communities.

What does federal support change for utilities and customers?

It extends plant operating lives, defers pollution-control spending and moves closure decisions from utilities and regulators to federal agencies. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin told coal and mining executives this summer: “Many of the items that were on your wish list are now done.” He framed the measures as a promise fulfilled.

EDF senior attorney Surbhi Sarang said: “This is a lot of government support and intervention that’s going to benefit an industry much more than it will benefit the American public.” She added: “[Coal plants] produce pollution, which will just cost communities more. And they’re an expensive form of energy that will cost communities more.”

Pollution exemptions

Seventy plants received Clean Air Act exemptions from Biden-era limits on toxic pollution. The administration invited owners to seek the exceptions last spring, telling them an email to a dedicated EPA inbox was sufficient.

The deferred rule required plants to reduce mercury pollution by 70% and emissions of nickel, arsenic, lead and other toxic metals by two-thirds. A May press release announcing an investigation by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) projected more than $430 million in health and other benefits for communities through 2037.

EPA granted the exemptions before rescinding the Biden-era rule itself. Sarang said legal challenges could reverse that decision, restoring the limits that 70 plants had evaded.

The administration claimed compliance would force plants to close prematurely. Biden-era EPA modeling showed that plants could absorb compliance costs without retiring, Sarang said.

Sarang said coal-plant pollution, including mercury and other heavy metals, can damage children’s brains and cause lifelong devastating illness. The exemptions allow those plants to keep operating without investing in better controls.

Federal funding

EDF identifies 24 coal plants slated to receive a collective $950 million in taxpayer funds from the U.S. Department of Energy. Two announced DOE funding rounds account for the total, with the larger one representing about half:

• $525 million, announced in September 2025, to help refurbish up to 11 plants.
• $425 million, unveiled in June, to expand and revitalize 13 more facilities.

Both rounds remain DOE announcements; EDF describes all 24 plants as slated to receive funds. The report does not establish completed refurbishments or added operating capacity.

Emergency orders

Since mid-2025, DOE has repeatedly used emergency authority to block utilities, grid operators and regulators from shutting down coal plants. Six coal plants have been forced to keep running, despite a lack of evidence that closure would threaten grid reliability. The six units remain online.

In September, a federal court ruled that DOE acted unlawfully in its first such emergency order, issued in May 2025 for a Michigan coal plant. The administration nonetheless continued issuing stay-open orders for that facility and others after the ruling.

EDF estimates that keeping the six plants running through June 2026 will cost utility customers up to $593 million. It estimates up to $860 million in health damages over the same period.

The market test

Coal accounted for nearly half of U.S. electricity generation capacity in 2011, falling to 15% in 2024. EDF attributes that decline primarily to poor economics as coal plants competed with cheap fossil gas and even cheaper solar, wind and batteries.

DOE has said its support for coal will save the country about $50 billion by reducing the need to build replacement generation. EDF, citing researchers, reports that almost all U.S. coal plants could instead be replaced with new clean energy and batteries at a net savings for utility customers.

Sarang argued that taxpayer resources should fund renewable energy, lowering bills and medical costs while reducing the burden of respiratory and other illness on people going to school and work.

The next milestone is judicial: whether courts reverse EPA’s rescission of the toxic-pollution rule while DOE’s stay-open orders keep six coal units operating through June 2026. Until those decisions resolve, the affected coal fleet remains supported by exemptions, announced grants and emergency authority rather than market economics.