Trump invokes Defense Production Act; makes way for new Alaska coal plant

President Donald Trump on Thursday invoked the Defense Production Act to protect 13 coal-fired power plants nationwide and announced a $700 million federal investment proposal that includes building a new coal plant in Alaska using funds originally designated for renewable energy programs.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the $700 million in federal money would be matched by $1.7 billion in private investment from the owners and operators of the plants. The package would support 14 coal plants and 42 coal mines nationally. Trump said the administration would redirect nearly $200 million from what he called the "Green New Scam" to build two new coal plants (one in Alaska, one in West Virginia) and restart a Maryland facility.

State Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, identified the Alaska piece of the announcement as approximately $89 million in federal grant funding for the Terra Energy Center, a proposed large-scale power generation facility in the West Susitna area of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. McCabe, whose House District 30 covers Big Lake and surrounding Mat-Su communities, welcomed the announcement in a statement Thursday, describing Terra Energy Center as a project capable of supporting "future industrial development, advanced manufacturing, communications infrastructure, and long-term economic growth in Southcentral Alaska." He also pointed to the facility as a potential in-state power source for Alaska's military installations.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the administration has approved 76 coal-mining permits in just over a year, compared to zero during the four-year Biden administration. "This administration has done more to save, protect and expand coal in our country than any administration perhaps ever," Burgum said. He also said Interior has opened 13.1 million acres of public land for coal leasing and that the U.S. Geological Survey has designated metallurgical coal as a critical mineral. "Without metallurgical coal, we don't have coke, we don't have the steel industry," Burgum said.

The announcement was framed as part of a broader national energy emergency and grid-reliability argument. Trump declared a national energy emergency on Inauguration Day, and the administration has stood up a National Energy Dominance Council operating out of the White House.

Any new Alaska coal plant would require federal environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act permits from EPA Region 10, and state permits from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources for any new or expanded coal mine needed to supply the facility.

Alaska's only operating coal mine, Usibelli Coal Mine, produces a few million tons annually for in-state power plants and export customers via the Seward Coal Terminal.

The state's last major coal plant project, Golden Valley Electric Association's Healy Unit 2 in Interior Alaska, became commercially operational only after extensive retrofits and years of legal and technical disputes. That history illustrates the complexity and cost of bringing a new coal plant online in Alaska.

U.S. Energy Information Administration data show coal plant retirements have outpaced new construction since the early 2010s, with new coal-fired construction in the U.S. essentially halted since 2013 as many proposed projects were cancelled or converted to natural gas. The administration's broader package also includes support for the proposed West Gateway coal export terminal, which Trump said would break ground this summer and ship more than 12 million tons annually by summer 2028.