The artificial intelligence boom has sent electricity prices reeling, with a recent Bloomberg analysis finding that wholesale energy prices in areas near data hubs have jumped 267 percent since 2020. President Donald Trump, who promised to lower electricity bills within 18 months of reentering office, believes he has found a way to fix this issue: taxpayer subsidies for coal.
On Monday, the Energy Department announced that it will offer $625 million in funding to "reinvigorate and expand America's coal industry." The funding includes $350 million to modernize outdated coal power plants or recommission closed ones, and up to $175 million for coal power projects in rural communities. This announcement was coupled with an Interior Department directive to open 13.1 million acres of federal land for coal mining at lower royalty rates. The Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, announced on Monday it would roll back several Joe Biden-era regulations on coal plants, which the agency says will save consumers $200 million in electricity costs annually.
