Coal Needs Another Jimmy Carter

“The Democratic Party regards coal as our nation's greatest energy resource. It must play a decisive role in America's energy future. We must increase our use of coal” - 1980 Democratic Party Platform

In the face of unprecedented demand for electricity, President Trump and Congress need to formulate a coherent energy policy to ensure reliable and affordable power in coming decades. Data centers, re-industrialization, crypto-currency, EVs, heat pumps and the dramatic societal trend toward electrification all cry out for a unified approach to what is rapidly becoming a nationwide problem -- especially in regard to dramatically rising electric rates. As Aaron Bloom, Director of NextEra Energy Transmission, stated: “The United States is the only macro grid in the world that doesn't have a plan of any type.”

As President from 1977 to 1981, Carter realized the US needed to expand coal-based electricity. In his “Energy Address to the Nation”, April,18,1977, he warned problems would arise if “Too few of our utility companies will have switched to coal, which is our most abundant energy source.” Oil from OPEC was expensive and unreliable, natural gas supply was limited, nuclear was only part of the solution. Carter engaged directly with states and companies to increase coal generation. He pushed Congress to pass the Power Plant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, prohibiting the use of natural gas and oil in new facilities and mandating coal as the first choice for new construction. President Carter’s efforts led to a massive wave of new coal capacity. During his term 51,752 MW were added and in the next four years another 40,220 MW were built for a total of almost 92,000 MW in just 8 years, paving the way for another coal surge under George W, Bush two decades later.

Today, President Trump also faces serious constraints on power supply. Oil is out of the picture, nuclear is too expensive and will take a decade or more to significantly expand. Natural gas supply faces intense demand from societal electrification and LNG exports are slated to reach over 30 bcf/d out of about 115 bcf/d of production. Wind and solar are intermittent and non-dispatchable, limiting their relevance for the forthcoming wave of data centers even with battery back-up since that storage lasts only a few hours. Furthermore, the supply chains for wind, solar and large-scale batteries are controlled by China. Draconian over-regulation has closed over 300 coal plants in a little more than a decade and coal has been reduced to only 16% of US electricity.

Yet, despite the ongoing surge in power demand, the US is now on track to lose upwards of 40% of its remaining coal electricity by 2030, and as much as 90% within a decade, effectively wiping coal from America’s energy landscape. The Midwest and Middle Atlantic states will be first to suffer and will be hard hit. The power pools in just those two regions (PJM and MISO), comprise 28 states and over 115 million people. The Southeast and Southwest will also be adversely impacted but no region will escape. Closing coal is already leading to higher electric rates as well as to severe spikes in natural gas prices during weather events. President Trump has taken important substantive steps to support coal, but his authority is limited and his term ends in 40 months. Also, some utilities are determined to shutter their coal plants to exploit monies available through subsidies and the Biden IRA. In Michigan, the groups challenging Trump’s order to keep 1,420 MW Campbell Station open include the owner of the plant (Consumers Energy), and the state of Michigan itself. And this issue highlights a major problem in not having a National Energy Plan. States make ad hoc decisions in a planning vacuum with minimal regard as to how other states in the system will be impacted. In the PJM region for example, closure of coal plants in New Jersey has not merely led to a 20% increase in NJ rates but is adversely impacting Pennsylvania’s prices as well.

The United States is steadily developing an electric power system that will be increasingly expensive, less reliable and a risk to national security. Warnings from the National Electric Reliability Council (NERC) decrying the continuing closure of still productive coal power plants have gone unheeded. Just last December NERC stated: “Additional coal-fired generator retirements… have caused a sharp decline in anticipated resources … new generation is insufficient to make up for generator retirements and load growth”. This concern has been echoed by Chris Wright, US Secretary of Energy:” We are on a path to continually shrink the electricity we generate from coal, and that has made electricity more expensive and our grid less stable”

The scatterplot that is current US electricity policy needs to become focused on the needs of the nation as a whole. Jimmy Carter identified this issue almost half a century ago and the US greatly benefitted from his decision to make coal the centerpiece of electricity supply. Coal-based reliability and modest rates helped bring the country to the center of the world’s economic stage. President Carter was correct in 1977 - coal is still America’s most important energy asset. The US has about 25% of the world’s recoverable coal reserves. These vast deposits are readily accessible and distributed across 20 states with an established transportation system to reach every corner of the country. Coal has proven reliability and affordability. The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines energy security as “The uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price.” In that context, no energy source in the world can stand against coal.

President Trump and Congress should make electricity policy a national issue and (1) Keep existing plants operating and, where possible, increase their capacity, (2) Recommission closed plants that were prematurely and unnecessarily retired and (3) Build new plants using the advanced clean coal technologies being successfully employed in China and other parts of the world (e.g. Supercritical combustion). In short, emulate Jimmy Carter with legislation to leverage coal’s attributes and benefit the American people.

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Frank Clemente PhD. specializes in research on the socioeconomic impact of energy policy and is the author of The Global Value of Coal, published by the International Energy Agency (2012).

Professor Clemente has served on the faculty of the University of Kentucky, University of Wisconsin and Penn State. He has extensive experience in speaking, writing and presenting data on the value of coal to the United States and the world. All opinions expressed here are presented independently from any university with which he has been affiliated.

Fred Palmer Esq. served as CEO of Western Fuels before he joined Peabody Energy as Senior Vice President for Government Affairs. Palmer was Chair of the World Coal Association Board and a member of the National Coal Council. He received the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers Award for “Distinguished Achievement in Coal Technology”. He also received a Statement of Appreciation from the National Coal Council in 2015 with a plaque for “Guidance since 1990

Article found published on September 26, 2025 CoalZoom.com