Executive Summary30-second read
Executive Order 14386, signed February 11, 2026 and published in the Federal Register on February 17 as 91 FR 7393, directs the Department of War (the renamed Department of Defense) and the Department of Energy to procure long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) from the U.S. coal-fired generating fleet to serve military installations and other mission-critical facilities. The order is the fifth in a chain of energy-emergency executive orders that began on day one of the Trump second term and is operationalized by three same-day DOE actions on June 4, 2026.
The legal frame is national security. By routing coal PPAs through the Department of War rather than civilian utility-regulation channels, the administration sidesteps state retail-rate processes, FERC market design rules, and the cost-of-service tests that have driven coal retirements since 2010. The economic frame is baseload: the order cites grid reliability, on-site fuel security, and mission assurance as the three priority criteria for PPA approvals.
The Executive Order
The operative text of EO 14386 is contained in four short sections. Section 1 (Purpose) frames a reliable electric grid as the foundation of national defense and asserts that the grid must not be "reliant on intermittent energy sources." Section 2 (Policy) attaches the order to the prior energy-emergency chain — EO 14156, 14241, 14261, and 14262 — and declares coal "essential to our national and economic security."
Section 3 — Power Purchase Agreements
The operative directive is Section 3. The Secretary of War, in coordination with the Secretary of Energy, shall "seek to procure power from the United States coal generation fleet by approving long-term Power Purchase Agreements, or entering into any similar contractual agreements, with coal-fired energy production facilities to serve DOW installations or other mission-critical facilities." Priority is given to projects that enhance:
- Grid reliability and blackout prevention — the dispatchability frame that has anchored coal advocacy since FERC NOPR RM18-1-000 in 2018.
- On-site fuel security — coal's 30–90 day on-site stockpile profile vs. just-in-time natural gas pipelines.
- Mission assurance for defense and intelligence capabilities — installation islanding and contested-environment resilience.
What the order does not do
Department of War nomenclature
EO 14386 refers throughout to the "Department of War" and "Secretary of War" — the renaming established by a parallel administrative action. References to "DoD" in DOE press materials and prior EO chain text remain unchanged; for purposes of this brief, "DOW" and "DoD" are used interchangeably with a preference for DOW where the EO text governs.
EO Chain & Operational TimelineTimeline
EO 14386 does not stand alone. It is the fifth in a sequence of energy-emergency presidential actions that began on the first day of the second Trump administration and is the first to channel that authority through the Department of War. The DOE coal awards — a $175M first tranche the same day and the $875M same-day actions on June 4, 2026 — are the concrete capital allocations that operationalize the EO 14386 frame.
DOE Implementation$875M deployed
On June 4, 2026, DOE took three implementing actions on the same day. Together they reach 16 coal facilities, a new West Coast bulk export terminal, and an emergency continuation of an Orlando coal unit that was otherwise scheduled to enter extended cold shutdown.
Action 1 — DPA Title III: 12 plants + West Gateway export terminal ($500M)
Twelve coal modernization awards drawing on Defense Production Act Title III authority, plus $75M for the West Gateway marine bulk export terminal in Oakland, CA. Total DOE outlay: $500M; total project value (federal + cost share): roughly $1.5B.[DOE release][HGEO selections]
| Project | Operator | Location | DOE | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RECLAIM-C (Columbia Energy Center) | Alliant Energy Corporation | Town of Pacific, WI | $19.0M | $48.5M |
| AEPCO ST3 Modernization | Arizona Electric Power Cooperative | Cochise, AZ | $20.8M | $53.4M |
| Antelope Valley Coal Modernization | Basin Electric Power Cooperative | Mercer County, ND | $27.4M | $70.0M |
| East Bend Reliability Assurance | Duke Energy Kentucky | Boone County, KY | $33.4M | $83.4M |
| Roxboro 2 & 3 Reliability Assurance | Duke Energy Progress | Person County, NC | $28.4M | $72.7M |
| EKPC Coal Recommissioning (Spurlock + Cooper) | East Kentucky Power Cooperative | Maysville & Pulaski, KY | $90.6M | $362.4M |
| M.O.R.E. Oklahoma (Grand River Energy Center) | Grand River Dam Authority | Chouteau, OK | $28.5M | $76.6M |
| Merom ELG Modernization | Hallador Power Company | Merom, IN | $27.2M | $69.7M |
| Sooner DCS Modernization | Oklahoma Gas and Electric (OGE) | Red Rock, OK | $22.5M | $57.7M |
| Flint Creek Modernization & Resiliency | Southwest Electric Power (SWEPCO / AEP) | Gentry, AR | $29.8M | $74.5M |
| TVA Coal Revitalization (Cumberland Fossil) | Tennessee Valley Authority | Stewart County, TN | $46.3M | $115.7M |
| Mitchell Cooling Tower Modernization | Wheeling Power (AEP) | Moundsville, WV | $51.0M | $158.6M |
| 12 coal projects (subtotal) | $425.0M | $1243.3M | ||
| West Gateway Terminal | OBOT LLC / Insight Terminal Solutions | Port of Oakland, CA | $75.0M | $231.8M |
The Department of War procurement channel already exists
EO 14386 directs the Department of War to procure long-term power agreements from coal generators to serve installations — a directive that reads as novel, but the procurement channel is not. Federal-award records (USASpending, via the PoliStack graph) show that one of the order's own DPA operators is already a sizeable DoD energy contractor.
Action 2 — Restoring Reliability: Coal Recommissioning & Modernization ($350M)
Four additional projects under the $525M Restoring Reliability solicitation (BAA DE-FOA-0003605), on top of a first tranche of $175M to six plants announced earlier. The four newly announced projects could add or preserve approximately 3,565 MW of coal-fired generation capacity:[DOE release]
The first tranche — $175M to six plants (February 11, 2026)
The same solicitation delivered its first six awards on February 11, 2026 — the day EO 14386 was signed. These $175M in DOE selections, against roughly $555M in total project value, share the same modernization-and-resiliency framing the order would later attach to national defense. Two recur from the June 4 DPA awards through corporate parents: Appalachian Power is an AEP subsidiary (AEP also operates the Mitchell and Flint Creek DPA awardees), and Duke Energy Carolinas is a sibling of Duke Energy Progress, the Roxboro DPA operator.[DOE release][HGEO selections]
| Project | Operator | Location | DOE | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amos & Mountaineer Modernization & Resiliency | Appalachian Power (AEP) | New Haven & Winfield, WV | $34.6M | $87.7M |
| Cardinal Units 1 & 2 Modernization | Buckeye Power Inc. | Brilliant, OH | $34.0M | $97.8M |
| Belews Creek Reliability Assurance | Duke Energy Carolinas | Sauratown Township, NC | $34.0M | $99.8M |
| Ghent Unit 2 SCR Installation | Kentucky Utilities Corporation | Ghent, KY | $35.0M | $187.3M |
| Fort Martin Coal Handling Optimization | Monongahela Power (FirstEnergy) | Maidsville, WV | $4.3M | $8.5M |
| Kyger Creek Modernization & Resiliency | Ohio Valley Electric Corporation | Cheshire, OH | $33.1M | $73.6M |
| 6 plants (first tranche) | $175.0M | $554.8M | ||
Action 3 — Stanton Energy Center Unit 1 (Florida) emergency order
The Coal Lobbying Coalition Around EO 14386$326M since 2017
EO 14386 did not arrive in a vacuum. The trade-association and corporate clients whose business is most directly improved by coal PPAs to military installations have collectively reported approximately $326M in federal lobbying spend over the past decade. The pattern is bipartisan in client mix (utilities lobby every administration), but the post-2024 ramp is unmistakable.
Annual lobbying spend (stacked, top 8 coal-adjacent clients)
Lifetime spend, 2017 – 2026 YTD
Who pulled which lever
- Edison Electric Institute — the investor-owned utility trade association. Largest single spender in the cohort ($102M lifetime). EEI's policy line under the second Trump administration has converged on the same "dispatchable baseload" framing that anchors EO 14386 Section 3.
- American Electric Power — operates the Mitchell Plant (WV) that receives the EO 14386 DPA award of $51M for cooling-tower modernization, and SWEPCO's Flint Creek (AR) at $29.8M. AEP's lifetime LDA spend is $67.1M; 2024 was the firm's all-time high at $10.4M.
- Duke Energy — operates two of the 12 DPA awardees: East Bend (KY, $33.4M) and Roxboro (NC, $28.4M). Duke's 2025 lobbying spend of $10.3M is its largest single year on record and roughly double its 2021 figure.
- National Mining Association — the upstream-coal trade group whose member companies include Peabody, Arch, Core Natural Resources, and Alliance Resource Partners. NMA's annual federal lobbying spend has grown from $1.46M (2020) to $3.5M (2025), more than doubling since the close of the first Trump term.
- NRECA — the rural electric cooperative trade association. Lobbies aggressively in the farm-state Senate delegation and DOE-Rural Utilities Service axis. Three DPA awardees (East Kentucky PC, Arizona Electric PC, Basin Electric PC) are NRECA members.
- America's Power (formerly American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, ACCCE) — the "clean coal" branding vehicle. LDA spend collapsed from $688K (2021) to $110K (2025) as the political lift shifted from coalition advocacy to direct corporate engagement; the brand survives as the rhetorical home of the "beautiful clean coal" terminology that the EO adopts.
- Peabody Investments & Core Natural Resources (fka CONSOL) — the two largest publicly-traded U.S. coal producers. Core's 2025 LDA spend ($1.9M) is the firm's record; Peabody's $780K is on pace for a 5-year high.
Government TargetsWhere the lobby points
Senate LDA filings disclose which government entities each registrant reports contacting on each lobbying matter. Scoped to the National Mining Association's own filings (2024–2026 YTD), those contacts concentrate heavily in Congress — the House and Senate together account for roughly 40% — and then spread across the Department of Energy, the White House Office, Treasury, and the Interior Department, with the Surface Transportation Board surfacing for coal-by-rail matters. Notably, the Department of Energy is the single most-contacted agency, the same channel through which EO 14386 is being implemented.
The DOE/DOW axis EO 14386 activates
- Department of War (DOW). Historically a secondary target for coal-coalition lobbying (~3% of the NMA's filing-line-item contacts, 2024+). EO 14386 promotes DOW to a primary procurement counterparty for coal generators for the first time.
- Department of Energy. The implementing agency. DOE-HGEO (Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office) deployed all three June 4 actions. Secretary Chris Wright and Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit are named in each press release.
- EPA. EPA has long been the coal coalition's primary regulatory battleground (Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, Effluent Limitation Guidelines, Coal Combustion Residuals). EO 14386 sidesteps that battleground entirely by working through procurement and emergency authority rather than environmental rulemaking.
- Congress. House and Senate together absorb the single largest share of the NMA's LDA contacts (~40%). EO 14386's "subject to the availability of appropriations" disclaimer (Section 4(b)) preserves congressional leverage, which means the Energy & Water and Defense appropriations subcommittees become the durable continuation of the EO 14386 program past 2027.
What to WatchForward look
- FY27 NDAA markups (June – September 2026). Section 4(b) of EO 14386 conditions implementation on appropriations. The first congressional fight over the order will be NDAA Title III authorization language for coal-PPA procurements. Watch HASC Strategic Forces and SASC Readiness.
- FERC reactions to DOE § 202(c) orders. Stanton Energy Center is the first June 4 action to exercise § 202(c) under the EO 14262/14386 frame. State PUCs (Florida PSC) and PJM/MISO/SPP RTOs will be the proximate litigation venues; expect challenges from state consumer advocates and competitive generators.
- State PUC reaction (Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas). Most DPA awardees are regulated utilities whose investments still require state retail-rate recovery. Watch for CPCN filings citing the DOE award as cost justification.
- West Gateway terminal litigation (Port of Oakland). The OBOT bulk terminal has been litigated for over a decade. The $75M DOE award reignites the City of Oakland v. OBOT ground-lease and permitting dispute; first cargo target is end of 2028.
- DPA Title III Presidential Determination renewal. The June 4 announcement cites the "most recent Presidential Determination Pursuant to § 303 of the Defense Production Act of 1950 on Coal Supply Chains and Baseload Power Generation Capacity." That determination has a finite term; renewal timing will signal whether the program is permanent or transitional.
- Q3 2026 LDA filings (due Oct 20, 2026). Watch for a step-up from Duke, AEP, EEI, and NRECA, plus first-time engagement by smaller DPA awardees (Grand River Dam Authority, East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Hallador Power) that have not historically been frequent LDA filers.