Aug 27, 2025 Current Resources

Aging Coal Plants Could Cost Americans Billions

Alex Kimani

Alex Kimani is a veteran finance writer, investor, engineer and researcher for Safehaven.com.

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By Alex Kimani - Aug 26, 2025, 5:30 PM CDT

U.S. President Trump is propping up aging fossil plants.
According to Grid Strategies, American ratepayers will pay more than $3.1 billion in extra power bills every year if Trump mandates that fossil fuel plants slated for retirement continue operating through 2028.
99% of U.S. coal plants cost more to run than building new wind/solar + enegy storage.

Back in April, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that, among other things, recognized coal as a critical mineral and opened federal lands to coal mining. Trump ordered the Secretary of Energy to examine the potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to meet the electricity needs of AI data centers and other high-performance computing operations. Then in May, Trump ordered the massive JH Campbell coal-fired power plant at the edge of Lake Michigan to be kept open for three months, before extending the deadline until November, days before the plant was due for closure after beginning operations in 1962.

In June, the Department of Energy ordered the Eddystone Generating Station near Philadelphia to continue operations, citing an energy emergency declared by Trump. The 50-year old oil and gas power plant was due for closure due to economic reasons. So far, the Trump administration has granted “pollution passes” to 71 high-pollution plants, including coal plants and dozens of copper smelting facilities. Coal is, by far, the dirtiest fossil fuel, with natural gas plants producing 50-60% less emissions than coal plants for a similar amount of power generated. The experts have labeled this as “ Trump’s political takeover of the electricity grid” and warned it will result in higher electricity bills, more pollution and a worsening climate crisis.

Trump’s orders for old fossil fuel power plants to remain open do appear more political than strategic, with Michigan’s grid operator MISO stressing it had “adequate resources to meet peak demand this summer” without the contribution of JH Campbell. And now the experts are warning that it’s American taxpayers who will pay the cost if Trump continues supporting old fossil fuel plants. Consumers Energy initially estimated that the closure of JH Campbell alone would save $600 million by 2040 as the company shifts to cheaper, cleaner energy sources.

According to Grid Strategies, American ratepayers will pay more than $3.1 billion in extra power bills every year if Trump mandates that fossil fuel plants slated for retirement continue operating through 2028. Even more alarming, the power sector consulting firm has predicted that Trump’s actions are likely to create a “perverse incentive” whereby plant owners will claim they plan to shut down thus inducing the Federal government to step in to keep their plants alive. Grid Strategies estimates that power bills could increase by as much as $6 billion if the country’s entire fleet of aging fossil fuel plants is kept open during Trump’s entire term, with California, Texas and Colorado likely to see the highest increases.

But Grid Strategies’ is not the only damning report for fossil fuel-powered plants. A 2023 report by nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation found that fully 99% of existing U.S. coal plants are more expensive to run than new, locally-sourced wind, solar, and energy storage resources. This cost comparison includes not only generation costs but also the "all-in" cost of building and operating new renewable energy and battery systems compared to continuing to run older, less efficient coal plants.

Falling costs is a big reason why renewable generation is now competitive with fossil fuels. Last month, we reported that U.S. utility-scale battery storage has surged more than 15-fold since 2020 thanks in large part to a large decline in battery prices. Lithium-ion battery prices now range from $85-$100 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), down from more than $1,000 per kWh 15 years ago.

According to financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for utility-scale solar farms paired with batteries now ranges from $50-$131 per megawatt hour (MWh), making the pair competitive with new natural gas peaking plants (LCOE of $47 to $170 per MWh) and even new coal-fired plants with LCOE of $114 per MWh. According to Lazard's 2025 LCOE+ report, new-build renewable energy power plants are the most competitive form of power generation on an unsubsidized basis (i.e., without tax subsidies). This is highly significant in the current era of unprecedented power demand growth in large part due to the AI boom and clean energy manufacturing. Renewables also stand out as the quickest-to-deploy generation resource, with the solar plus battery combination often boasting far shorter deployment times compared to constructing new natural gas power plants.

Source: Lazard

That said, the experts have predicted that Trump’s actions will likely forestall the ongoing decline by the coal sector, but fail to stop it, “The administration may slow the retirement trend although they are unlikely to stop it,” Timothy Fox, an energy analyst at ClearView, told the Guardian. The coal industry is generally considered to be in a long-term, if slow-burn, decline globally, driven by factors like the falling cost of renewable energy, climate change regulations, and declining investor confidence.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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