President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders on Tuesday aimed at boosting grid security, electric reliability and affordability principally by the U.S. adopting more realistic regulations on coal plants.
East Kentucky Power Cooperative President and CEO Tony Campbell, whom Trump described as “quite a gentleman and very respected in the industry,” addressed the nationally televised event at the White House.
“Affordable and reliable electricity is the cornerstone of our economy, especially American manufacturing,” Campbell said from an East Room lectern, Trump standing at his side. “However, too many government leaders have pushed policies that have made our electric grid significantly less reliable and our energy too expensive. That begins to change NOW.”
Click here to watch Tony Campbell’s remarks.
As Campbell punctuated his sentence, the assembled crowd stood and cheered. Trump nodded and applauded.
Flanked by coal miners in hard hats and members of the newly formed National Energy Dominance Council, led by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Trump signed executive orders aimed at harnessing coal power to meet growing demand.
“At a time when electricity demand is skyrocketing, we need to be adding more always available energy to the grid,” said Jim Matheson, CEO of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, “not shutting down power plants that have useful life left.”
Trump’s executive actions grant a reprieve to some coal plants on death row, direct federal agencies to assess how coal-generated power can meet electricity demand from data centers, and resume coal leasing on public lands.
Kentucky Electric Cooperatives statement:
For years, Kentucky’s electric cooperatives have warned that ill-advised federal regulations are forcing power providers to shut down reliable sources of baseload power. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation projects that over half of North America could face energy shortfalls in the next decade. Furthermore, that dependability gap is also projected to lead to higher energy costs. As member-owned and not-for-profit cooperatives, we are proud to advocate for Kentucky’s energy consumers and support any common-sense approach that increases energy reliability and affordability. We appreciate President Trump and his administration recognizing the reality of what it takes to generate sufficient electricity to meet the demands of society and our growing economy.
-Chris Perry, president and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives.
