President Trump on April 8 signed energy-related executive orders including EOs focused on bolstering the country’s grid reliability and the use of coal generation. One of the EOs calls for the completion of a report that identifies regions where coal-powered infrastructure is available and suitable for supporting AI data centers.
Executive Order Directs Action by Secretary of Energy Tied to Reliability
One of the EOs signed by Trump states that the United States “is experiencing an unprecedented surge in electricity demand driven by rapid technological advancements, including the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers and an increase in domestic manufacturing. This increase in demand, coupled with existing capacity challenges, places a significant strain on our Nation’s electric grid.”
The EO states that lack of reliability in the electric grid “puts the national and economic security of the American people at risk. The United States’ ability to remain at the forefront of technological innovation depends on a reliable supply of energy from all available electric generation sources and the integrity of our Nation’s electric grid.”
The EO said that it is the policy of the United States to ensure the reliability, resilience, and security of the electric power grid. “It is further the policy of the United States that in order to ensure adequate and reliable electric generation in America, to meet growing electricity demand, and to address the national emergency declared pursuant to Executive Order 14156 of January 20, 2025 (Declaring a National Energy Emergency), our electric grid must utilize all available power generation resources, particularly those secure, redundant fuel supplies that are capable of extended operations.”
The EO states “to safeguard the reliability and security of the United States’ electric grid during periods when the relevant grid operator forecasts a temporary interruption of electricity supply is necessary to prevent a complete grid failure, the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with such executive department and agency heads as the Secretary of Energy deems appropriate, shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law, streamline, systemize, and expedite the Department of Energy’s processes for issuing orders under section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act during the periods of grid operations described above, including the review and approval of applications by electric generation resources seeking to operate at maximum capacity.”
Within 30 days of the date of the order, the Secretary of Energy “shall develop a uniform methodology for analyzing current and anticipated reserve margins for all regions of the bulk power system regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and shall utilize this methodology to identify current and anticipated regions with reserve margins below acceptable thresholds as identified by the Secretary of Energy.”
This methodology will:
• Analyze sufficiently varied grid conditions and operating scenarios based on historic events to adequately inform the methodology;
• Accredit generation resources in such conditions and scenarios based on historical performance of each specific generation resource type in the real time conditions and operating scenarios of each grid scenario; and
• Be published, along with any analysis it produces, on the Department of Energy’s website within 90 days of the date of this order.
The Secretary of Energy will establish a process by which the methodology and any analysis and results it produces, are assessed on a regular basis, and a protocol to identify which generation resources within a region are critical to system reliability.
This protocol will additionally:
• Include all mechanisms available under applicable law, including section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, to ensure any generation resource identified as critical within an at-risk region is appropriately retained as an available generation resource within the at-risk region; and
• Prevent, “as the Secretary of Energy deems appropriate and consistent with applicable law, including section 202 of the Federal Power Act, an identified generation resource in excess of 50 megawatts of nameplate capacity from leaving the bulk-power system or converting the source of fuel of such generation resource if such conversion would result in a net reduction in accredited generating capacity, as determined by the reserve margin methodology.
EO Focuses on Coal
Another EO signed by Trump focuses on coal.
“It is the policy of the United States that coal is essential to our national and economic security. It is a national priority to support the domestic coal industry by removing Federal regulatory barriers that undermine coal production, encouraging the utilization of coal to meet growing domestic energy demands, increasing American coal exports, and ensuring that Federal policy does not discriminate against coal production or coal-fired electricity generation,” one of the EOs said.
The EO directs the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council to designate coal as a “mineral” as defined in section 2 of Executive Order 14241 of March 20, 2025 (Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production), thereby entitling coal to all the benefits of a “mineral” under that order.
“Further, Executive Order 14241 is hereby amended by deleting the reference to ‘4332(d)(1)(B)” in section 6(d) of that order and replacing it with a reference to “4532(d)(1)(B),’” the EO said.
Within 60 days of the date of the April 8 EO, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy “shall submit a consolidated report to the President through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy that identifies coal resources and reserves on Federal lands, assesses impediments to mining such coal resources, and proposes policies to address such impediments and ultimately enable the mining of such coal resources by either private or public actors.”
The Secretary of Energy will include in the report an analysis of the impact that the availability of the coal resources identified could have on electricity costs and grid reliability.
Also, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture “shall prioritize coal leasing and related activities, consistent with applicable law, as the primary land use for the public lands with coal resources” identified in the report of the order and expedite coal leasing in these areas, “including by utilizing such emergency authorities as are available to them and identifying opportunities to provide for expedited environmental reviews, consistent with applicable law.”
Within 30 days of the date of the order, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury “shall identify any guidance, regulations, programs, and policies within their respective executive department or agency that seek to transition the Nation away from coal production and electricity generation.”
Within 60 days of the date of the order, the heads of all relevant executive departments and agencies “shall consider revising or rescinding Federal actions identified in a subsection the order consistent with applicable law.
“Agencies that are empowered to make loans, loan guarantees, grants, equity investments, or to conclude offtake agreements, both domestically and abroad, shall, to the extent permitted by law, take steps to rescind any policies or regulations seeking to or that actually discourage investment in coal production and coal-fired electricity generation, such as the 2021 U.S. Treasury Fossil Fuel Energy Guidance for Multilateral Development Banks rescinded by the Department of the Treasury and similar policies or regulations.”
In addition, within 30 days of the date of the order, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Development Finance Corporation, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the heads of all other agencies that have discretionary programs that provide, facilitate, or advocate for financing of energy projects “shall review their charters, regulations, guidance, policies, international agreements, analytical models and internal bureaucratic processes to ensure that such materials do not discourage the agency from financing coal mining projects and electricity generation projects. Consistent with law, and subject to the applicable agency head’s discretion, where appropriate, any identified preferences against coal use shall immediately be eliminated except as explicitly provided for in statute.”
Also, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security, and the heads of other relevant agencies, “shall take all necessary and appropriate actions to promote and identify export opportunities for coal and coal technologies and facilitate international offtake agreements for United States coal.”
Within 30 days of the date of the EO, each agency will identify to the Council on Environmental Quality any existing and potential categorical exclusions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act, increased reliance on and adoption of which by other agencies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 4336c could further the production and export of coal.
AI Data Centers
The EO also addresses artificial intelligence data centers.
Within 60 days of the date of the order, the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy “shall identify regions where coal-powered infrastructure is available and suitable for supporting AI data centers; assess the market, legal, and technological potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to power data centers to meet the electricity needs of AI and high-performance computing operations; and submit a consolidated summary report with their findings and proposals to the Chair of the NEDC, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.”
Acceleration of Coal Technology
Under the EO, the Secretary of Energy will take all necessary actions, “consistent with applicable law, to accelerate the development, deployment, and commercialization of coal technologies including, but not limited to, utilizing all available funding mechanisms to support the expansion of coal technology, including technologies that utilize coal and coal byproducts such as building materials, battery materials, carbon fiber, synthetic graphite, and printing materials, as well as updating coal feedstock for power generation and steelmaking.”
Within 90 days of the date of the order, the Secretary of Energy shall submit a detailed action plan to the President through the Chair of the NEDC outlining the funding mechanisms, programs, and policy actions taken to accelerate coal technology deployment.
Proclamation Tied to Coal Generation
Trump on April 8 also signed a proclamation tied to coal generation.
“Coal-fired electricity generation is essential to ensuring that our Nation’s grid is reliable and that electricity is affordable for the American people, and to promoting our Nation’s energy security. The Federal Government plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the Nation’s power supply remains secure and reliable. Forcing energy producers to comply with unattainable emissions controls jeopardizes this mission,” it states.
The proclamation notes that on May 7, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency published a final rule titled National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants: Coal- and Oil-Fired Electric Utility Steam Generating Units Review of the Residual Risk and Technology Review, 89 FR 38508, which amended the preexisting Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule to make it more stringent. The Rule’s effective date was July 8, 2024. Its compliance date is July 8, 2027, 3 years after its effective date.
The Rule “places severe burdens on coal-fired power plants and, through its indirect effects, on the viability of our Nation’s coal sector,” the proclamation said.
“Specifically, the Rule requires compliance with standards premised on the application of emissions-control technologies that do not yet exist in a commercially viable form.”
The current compliance timeline of the Rule “therefore raises the unacceptable risk of the shutdown of many coal-fired power plants, eliminating thousands of jobs, placing our electrical grid at risk, and threatening broader, harmful economic and energy security effects. This in turn would undermine our national security, as these effects would leave America vulnerable to electricity demand shortages, increased dependence on foreign energy sources, and potential disruptions of our electricity and energy supplies, particularly in times of crisis,” the proclamation said.
The proclamation states that “certain stationary sources subject to the Rule, as identified in Annex I of this proclamation, are exempt from compliance with the Rule for a period of 2 years beyond the Rule’s compliance date — i.e., for the period beginning July 8, 2027, and concluding July 8, 2029 (Exemption).”
The effect of this exemption is that, “during this 2-year period, these stationary sources are subject to the compliance obligations that they are currently subject to under the MATS as the MATS existed prior to the Rule.”
In support of this exemption, Trump made the following determinations:
• The technology to implement the Rule is not available. Such technology does not exist in a commercially viable form sufficient to allow implementation of and compliance with the Rule by its compliance date of July 8, 2027.
• It is in the national security interests of the United States to issue this exemption for reasons stated in the proclamation.
EO Addresses State Laws
Another EO signed by Trump on April 8 addresses state laws tied to energy.
Under the EO, the U.S. Attorney General, “in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, shall identify all State and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by Federal law, or otherwise unenforceable.”
The Attorney General “shall prioritize the identification of any such State laws purporting to address ‘climate change’ or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.”
Also, the Attorney General “shall expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions identified in subsection (a) of this section that the Attorney General determines to be illegal.”
Within 60 days of the date of the order, the Attorney General will need to submit a report to the President, through the Counsel to the President, regarding actions taken as outlined in the EO.
“The Attorney General shall also recommend any additional Presidential or legislative action necessary to stop the enforcement of State laws identified in subsection (a) of this section that the Attorney General determines to be illegal or otherwise fulfill the purpose of this order.”
