Trump administration kept five major coal plants online that were slated for closure under previous administration’s green energy push, DOE said
By Charles Creitz Fox News
The electric grid kept the lights on for much of the country hit by the weekend’s massive snowstorm chiefly because the Trump administration broke from Biden-era plans, keeping five major coal-fired power plants online and allowing grid providers to draw in more fossil fuel-based energy in vulnerable areas.
The Energy Department made the claims in exclusive comments to Fox News Digital, as officials said multiple megawatts of power were made additionally available from otherwise taboo hydrocarbons.
Secretary Chris Wright issued several emergency orders over the weekend and through Tuesday that permitted power plants to operate beyond levels set by EPA regulations and considered the ceiling prior to President Donald Trump’s second term, a source familiar with the situation told Fox News Digital.
Five such plants were on track to be closed under the Biden-era push to pivot from fossil fuels to green energy, the official said, adding that the Trump administration was prepared to give energy producers leeway to push more power online to reduce risks of blackouts. The Trump administration saved 17 gigawatts of coal power that were going to be forcibly shut down as well, Fox News has learned.
“We told grid providers: if your energy demand reaches a critical level… let us know,” the official said, adding that there is a direct correlation between the power being saved up and what was needed to keep the lights on as states from Alabama to Vermont were hammered with wintry weather and deep freezes.
As the storm approached, Wright informed grid operators to be prepared to use more than 35 gigawatts of unused backup generation nationwide, sourced from anywhere from data centers to big-box stores, bypassing prior environmental regulations by emergency order.
That gave a wide buffer against blackouts and hundreds of millions in emergency costs for Americans — as 1 gigawatt is enough to power Wright’s hometown Denver metro area alone.
“How power sources perform during peak electricity demand reveal their true value,” Energy Department press secretary Ben Dietderich told Fox News Digital.
