Trump plan would reopen Western Maryland coal plant

President Donald Trump (R) unveiled hundreds of millions in investments on Thursday to fortify existing coal-fired power plants, build new ones — and restart a retired coal plant in Western Maryland.

The Warrior Run facility, located near Cumberland, deactivated in 2024, but its owner, AES, recently signaled its intent to reopen, with sky-high energy prices promising big returns for energy generators who contribute to the regional grid.

Warrior Run’s retirement came amid a flurry of coal plant closures in Maryland. But at least one large-scale coal plant is still operating in Maryland. Though it planned to close in 2025, Anne Arundel County’s Brandon Shores coal plant will operate into 2029 under an agreement with the regional grid because of concerns for power shortages, fueled in large part by high demand from AI data centers.

In December, AES filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking for an extension of a waiver that would allow it to participate in regional energy markets through 2026, saying it “requires additional time” to procure equipment, renegotiate contracts and hire staff. The company did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.

The independent market monitor for PJM Interconnection, the electricity grid that includes Maryland, pushed back, arguing that the plant shut down because it could not provide energy economically. And it likely still cannot.

Eric Miller, regional director of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic for environmental advocacy group Evergreen Action, said he believes reactivating the plant won’t help bring energy prices down for PJM. In fact, if it produces more expensive energy than other resources, it could help keep energy prices high.

“Providing that plant with money to restart operations doesn’t at all indicate its going to provide any savings to Maryland families,” Miller said. “That plant isn’t going to all the sudden become economic again.”

Miller said he wants to see Maryland work with AES to try to generate clean energy on the site, possibly with battery energy storage.

“Coal did a very good job by itself going out of business. The plants all over America just were not economic compared to other resources — not just natural gas, but renewables,” Miller said. “Trying to step back in time isn’t gonna change that market.”

Republicans in Annapolis praised Trump’s announcement on Thursday. They have blamed high energy prices, and the closure of coal-fired power plants in Maryland, on increasingly restrictive climate mandates passed by the Democratic majority. Maryland is required to reduce its globe-warming emissions 60% by 2031, based on 2006 levels, and become net-zero by 2045.

“Where Governor Moore and Annapolis Democrats have spent years sending terrible market signals, piling on mandates, layering surcharges, and making Maryland hostile to energy investment, the federal government is stepping in to do what Maryland’s leaders have refused to do: invest in the reliable baseload power our state desperately needs,” read a statement from Senate Minority Leader Steve Hershey (R- Upper Shore.)

Sen. Mike McKay (R-Allegany, Garrett and Washington), who represents the district that includes Warrior Run, called Trump’s announcement “exactly the kind of investment Allegany County has needed and deserved,” in a statement Thursday.

But to Miller of Evergreen Action, the Trump administration’s actions represent something altogether different.

“It is absolutely the White House reaching into states and jamming the policy they want down their throats,” he said.