The Trump administration on Thursday launched an effort to speed development of power plants and transmission lin
es as artificial intelligence boosts demand, even as it orders fossil fuel plants set to shut for good to keep operating.
The Department of Energy, or DOE, is requesting information from stakeholders including utilities and regional transmissi
on managers on near-term investment opportunities, readiness of projects, expectations on growth in power demand, and constraints that it says it can address.
U.S. President Donald Trump on his first day back in office in January issued an order declaring an energy emergency as arti
ficial intelligence, data centers, and electric vehicles are boosting power demand for the first time in two decades.
The DOE has ordered several coal and natural gas plants that had planned
to shut to keep operating, the latest U.S. move supporting fossil fuels.
Trump claims that rapid adoption of solar and wind power has m
ade U.S. electricity unstable and expensive, justifying his bid to end most subsidies for them.
Reliability has improved in Texas, the U.S. grid with the most renewable energy, however.
The Speed to Power program will help the DOE determine how to u
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se funding programs and national emergency authorities to expand power generation and the grid.
The DOE has billions of dollars in funds and financing throug
h departments including its Loan Programs Office. In July, the DOE
axed a $4.9 billion loan guarantee for a transmission line t
hat was meant to send power from wind and solar energy projects in Kansas to cities in the Midwest and East.
Also on Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission took actions aimed to boost grid security. FERC ap
proved and proposed rules to reduce the risks of the supply chain, cyber a
ttacks and electrical grid disruptions caused by extreme cold, which can sometimes lead to blackouts.
Green energy opponents say that coal plants that have been slated to retire during Trump’s second term will be needed.
Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, predicted
that 38 coal plants that are scheduled to close through 2028 woul
d remain open, either on Trump orders or voluntarily.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in July that in the first three months of 2025 power plants burned a
bout 20% more coal than they did during that quarter in 2024.