Restarting coal plants after Trump’s executive orders makes no economic sense, report says

U.S. President Donald Trump is advocating for increased coal production in the United States, however, reviving decommissioned coal plants to meet this goal makes "no economic sense", the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) said on Thursday.

Trump's executive orders could potentially delay the closure of coal-fired power plants and encourage the restart of 102 recently shut coal-fired units, IEEFA said in a report.

According to the report, the units, which have a total generating capacity of 36,566 megawatts (MW), were closed over the past four years. Very few of them, however, are reliable candidates for a restart.

The median age of the retired plants is 56 years and as coal plants age, maintenance costs also rise, subsequently pushing up generation costs. In addition to these costs, any unit considering a restart would need to complete a sizable and expensive backlog of required maintenance, IEEFA said.

The global think tank, focused on the energy industry, added that Trump's plan to meet rising energy demand with coal-generated power ignores the fact that most of the still-operating facilities are running below their capacity.

Coal-burning plants now account for less than 20% of U.S. electricity generation, a drop from 50% in 2000, with existing coal plants contributing power to the grid only about 40% of the time.

Most utilities have also shifted towards cheaper and more efficient forms of electricity generation, such as solar, wind, and battery power, to cater to the increasing power demand driven by data centers, the report mentioned.

"Spending taxpayer and/or ratepayer dollars to reopen closed coal plants with uncertain maintenance needs and unpredictable future performance makes no sense, economic or otherwise," IEEFA said.