"In a previously unreported letter, a top lobbyist floated the idea of using emergency powers to keep aging coal plants open."
"Early last year, a top coal lobbyist sent a letter to Energy Secretary Chris Wright with a dire warning.
Roughly one-third of the nation’s coal-burning power plants were scheduled to close within five years, according to the letter, dated Mar. 11, 2025, from a coal trade group. Many of the closures would occur during President Trump’s second term.
But what if the plants didn’t have to shut down? The trade group, America’s Power, proposed an unusual remedy: The Energy Department could deploy rarely used emergency powers to force them to stay open longer.
Two months later, the Trump administration began doing exactly that.
The letter, which has not been previously reported, reveals some of the earliest known discussions about a move that experts have called an extraordinary intervention into the nation’s energy markets."
Brad Plumer and Claire Brown report for the New York Times September 28, 2026.
