The pivot away from fossil-fueled power generation in the United States is stalling due to the Trump energy policy, increased power usage, and the fear of electricity shortages and blackouts.
According to the Energy Information Administration, via Reuters, US power plants scheduled to close in 2026 could stay online longer, building on a trend that began last year as electricity use and prices hit record levels in some parts of the country.
The EIA says 11 gigawatts of power-generating capacity was expected to be shut, with nearly 60% coal-fired and the rest natural gas-fired.
In 2025, the organization said only 4.6 GW of electricity was retired, the lowest since 2008, following orders from the Department of Energy to extend the operations of several mostly coal plants.
Reuters reports The DOE has cited concerns about power shortages on the grid as part of its reasoning for continuing to use the power plants, some of which were built in the middle of the last century.
Pending power shortage
In January, the DOE released a report stating that if nothing changes in the existing plan to supply electricity to the grid, the risk of power outages will be 100 times higher by 2030.
Popular Mechanics wrote a major focus of the report is the dramatic spike in energy demand caused by the rapid proliferation of AI data centers. An article in the Wall Street Journal confirmed that AI is straining the resources of PJM, the largest power grid operator in the United States, which supplies electricity to 70 million people from Kentucky to New Jersey. According to the article, the region may face blackouts during times of peak stress, such as heat waves and cold snaps, and a large contributor to the crisis is the high concentration of data centers in northern Virginia.
Playing politics
Another part of the problem stems from the Trump administration’s focus on fossil fuels and the minimization of renewable power. The administration has canceled more than $7.5 billion in funding for more than 220 energy projects approved under the Biden White House.
In contrast, it has supported the idea that the energy grid should be bolstered by an increased reliance on coal, oil and natural gas.
My Oilprice colleague Felicity Bradstock wrote that In September, officials from the Departments of Energy and the Interior, along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), introduced several policies aimed at reinvigorating coal mining and delaying coal plant closures across the U.S....
Meanwhile, President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act reduced coal royalties from 12.5 percent to 7 percent, for new and existing leases, aiming to boost mining by making it more profitable.
In January, the EPA announced a proposed rule that would allow 11 coal plants to dump toxic coal ash into unlined pits until 2031, a decade longer than stated in existing federal rules. This could lead to several coal plants – which would otherwise be forced to close under the current rules – to remain open for several more years.
However, Bradstock’s article also cites energy experts who say it is too late for the US to make a U-turn on its plans to curb coal production. There are currently no new US coal plants under development and the rise of cheaper and cleaner alternatives such as wind, has forced a decline in coal sector investment in recent years. US utilities are increasingly favoring cleaner energy additions such as nuclear power and natural gas to coal due to lower cost and greater efficiency.
Around six times more coal power plants have been retired than constructed in the US this century.
Electricity prices spike
Meanwhile, Americans are facing higher utility bills due to several factors. First is the rise in demand for electricity.
Power demand growth is the strongest growth in decades, with consumption projected to rise 20% by 2030 compared to 2025. According to an AI Overview, the surge is driven by a convergence of technological, industrial and environmental factors, marking the first sustained four-year growth period since 2000.
Key reasons for rising electricity use include data center expansion; industrial reshoring; the electrification of transportation and the increasing popularity of appliances such as heat pumps; and increasingly hotter summers resulting in higher a/c usage, as well as more frequent winter cold spells.
In 2025, regulators approved 43 rate hikes across the country totaling $11.6 billion, states an analysis by PowerLines reported by CBS News. A total of 56 million Americans were affected.
Why are utilities raising rates? The article says it’s to pay for repairing and replacing ailing infrastructure, costs linked to extreme weather events, volatile fuel prices, and the increase in electricity demand driven by large date centers.
Southern US states are bearing the brunt, with utilities in the region requesting 13 rate hikes totaling $8.4 billion.
The new round of rate hikes comes as Americans are already grappling with soaring energy costs. Around one in three Americans said they had to forgo paying a basic expense in 2024 to afford their energy bills, according to a LendingTree analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data.
As of July 2025, Americans paid about $250 a month on average for their utilities, data released last year from The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, and advocacy group Protect Borrowers shows…
The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts residential electricity prices to rise nearly 4% in 2026.
An analysis by The Guardian places the blame squarely on the Trump administration, noting that the White House has prioritized fossil fuel producers over consumers by expanding LNG exports, freezing wind power projects that provide cheaper electricity, keeping costly coal plants running, and eliminating energy-efficiency tax credits that lower household energy bills.
Another recent Oilprice article notes that The U.S. energy dominance agenda and booming LNG exports – pillars of the Administration’s policy – are boosting domestic natural gas demand and raising American energy bills.
By Andrew Topf for Oilprice.com
