President Donald Trump announced he’d direct $700 million in national defense and energy funding to refurbish or build coal power infrastructure across the country — including Indiana — in a bid for affordability.
More than half the funding, $425 million, will “save” 14 coal-powered plants — including Indiana’s Merom Generating Station, operated by Hallador Power Co. Specific amounts were not provided.
The two-unit, 1,080-megawatt plant, located in Sullivan County, has been in continuous operation since 1982, according to Hallador.
An additional $75 million in Defense Production Act funds will support construction of a coal export terminal in California.
Trump also announced $200 million in Department of Energy matching grant dollars to build new coal-powered plants in Alaska and West Virginia — the nation’s first since 2013 — and restart a plant in Maryland.
