Trump aims to restart shuttered Western Maryland coal plant

President Donald Trump committed millions Thursday to restart a shuttered Western Maryland coal plant as part of federal funding his administration rolled out to buoy a sinking coal industry across the country.

It wasn’t immediately clear Thursday whether the president’s support for Warrior Run Generating Station, south of Cumberland in Allegany County, would resurrect the plant, or how owners would use the money. Warrior Run stopped burning coal in June 2024, a year after the utility company Potomac Edison paid $357 million to get out of its contract to purchase expensive power.

The retired coal plant has the capacity to generate 205 megawatts of power, a relatively small output by the standard of many U.S. coal plants.

A spokesperson for AES Corporation, which owns Warrior Run, did not respond to emailed questions Thursday afternoon, but the company signaled to federal regulators in December that it is trying to reopen the plant.

Trump announced the plan to revive what he called “clean, beautiful coal” in an Oval Office press conference on Thursday where he invoked a Cold War-era law to justify the funding in the interest of national security.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office criticized the announcement, saying in a statement that the country should be investing in clean power to support jobs and lower costs, not “subsidizing energy sources of the last century while shutting down projects that are cheaper, faster and cleaner.”

Moore spokeswoman Rhyan Lake said the governor’s office heard from AES that the company is exploring transitioning Warrior Run to battery storage after rebooting coal burners there, a step the governor’s office views more positively.

“That transition would generate jobs, improve grid efficiency, and drive down energy costs for Maryland families,” Lake said. “As this project develops, the State will continue monitoring how it meets Maryland’s standards and priorities.”

A Department of Energy fact sheet did not specify how much the administration plans to allocate for Warrior Run, but Maryland Republicans lawmakers pegged the figure at $85 million in their own news release.

Along with restarting Warrior Run, the White House devoted a total of $700 million to support 13 operating coal plants in other parts of the country, invest in coal exports, and build new coal-fired plants in Alaska and West Virginia. No energy company has built a new coal-fired power plant in the United States in more than a decade.

Hundreds of coal-fired power plants have shuttered across the country in the last decade, as the industry has struggled to keep up with tightening environmental regulations, cheap renewables and abundant natural gas.

The Trump administration, though, has pushed to keep coal plants open beyond scheduled closure dates. New demands on the power grid from data centers and artificial intelligence also have extended the life of some coal-burning plants, including the Brandon Shores Power Plant outside of Baltimore.

The Republican’s endorsement of coal power contrasts with his administration’s approach to the fledgling offshore wind industry in Maryland.

Despite more than a decade of work by Maryland leaders, wind turbines have yet to take root off the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Under Trump, the federal government has reversed its position on a permitted wind farm off the coast of Ocean City, leaving that project mired in litigation.

National climate groups blasted the Trump administration on Thursday for its efforts to hobble clean energy sources such as wind power while giving money to struggling coal companies.

“Spending $700 million to bail out the coal industry is like throwing a lifeline to a ship that has already sunk,” Lena Moffitt, executive director of Evergreen Action, said in a statement. “The market has already rejected coal as cheaper, cleaner alternatives continue to outcompete the most expensive, dirty fuel source.”

Maryland Republicans, who have long blamed Democrats for the decline of coal generation in the state, celebrated Trump’s announcement.

“This is exactly the kind of investment Allegany County has needed and deserved,” Sen. Mike McKay, whose district includes Cumberland, said in a news release with other Senate Republicans. “Real jobs, real investment, and real power generation coming back to our community. This is great news for Western Maryland families and workers.”