President Trump announced earlier this week that he is directing the Department of Energy to allocate $175m to six coal plants across Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This funding, sourced from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, aims to support upgrades and maintain operations. Trump, who has dismissed climate change, declared an “energy emergency” to address rising electricity demands from artificial intelligence and data centers. He said: “We need to keep the United States competitive.” The funding targets rural capacity and energy affordability projects.
