LONDONDERRY TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — The Trump administration has prevented the closure of more than 15 gigawatts worth of energy capacity within its first year, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday, as part of its effort to keep coal connected to the grid and reverse the Biden administration’s attempts to phase out fossil fuels.
One gigawatt is roughly equivalent to the amount of electricity needed to power approximately 750,000 homes.
The Department of Energy has led the effort to keep these facilities online, with the goal of bringing down electricity prices for Americans, Wright said during a visit to the former Three Mile Island Nuclear Facility in Pennsylvania.
The nuclear plant, which has been renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, is scheduled to return online by summer 2027, generating more than 800 megawatts of power.
Wright pointed to the power facility as an example of one that was closed prematurely due to political pressure.
Three Mile Island was the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, when a partial meltdown of its Unit 2 reactor occurred in March 1979.
The accident, caused by equipment failure and human error, did not result in any immediate deaths or injuries from radiation exposure in the region. The facility’s Unit 1 reactor continued to operate until 2019, when it was closed due to economic pressures.
The Trump administration has prioritized bolstering firm, baseload energy sources, such as nuclear power and fossil fuels, over renewable alternatives, such as wind and solar.
President Donald Trump and his cabinet have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for attempting to phase out fossil fuels like coal. Wright said that 100 gigawatts of “reliable, firm” energy capacity was slated to be closed when they came into the office.
If all those facilities were to close, he said, electricity prices would certainly continue to rise.
“Americans have suffered that, Americans have seen that, President Trump was elected to reverse that,” Wright said. “To date, in our 10 months to 11 months in office we’ve already stopped the closure of over 15 gigawatts of power production capacity across the country.”
He continued, “If that 100 gigawatt had closed, and of course we wanted to participate in the AI race and build these data centers, [and] re-shore some American manufacturing, blackouts would be 100 times more common.”
The secretary’s remarks came just one day after the Department of Energy ordered a 730 megawatt coal plant in Washington to remain open.
The facility, which is operated by Canadian independent power producer TransAlta, was slated to retire at the end of the month.
INSIDE THE EFFORTS TO RESTART THE THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR PLANT
The agency has also ordered the J.H. Campbell coal plant, scheduled to be retired in the spring, to remain open through February, and other utilities are expecting to receive similar orders for other aging facilities.
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association confirmed to Canary Media in November that it was expecting such an order regarding its Craig Station coal plant, scheduled to close this year. If it does receive the order, the electric cooperative said it would place unwanted economic pressure on its operations.
