The Trump administration has awarded $18.5 million in Department of Energy grants to TerraSpark, a company led by far-right activist Alex Phillips, to build the first new coal-fired power plant in the US since 2013. The proposed 1.6 GW facility in Mount Storm, West Virginia would include carbon capture technology but the company has no track record in energy or coal. Critics note that experienced power companies have struggled to get similar DOE funding. TerraSpark's partners lack coal industry backgrounds and the project was not on DOE's radar until early 2026. The company must raise $21.5 million more to complete a feasibility study before receiving the federal grant. Local officials learned of the project only two months before the award was announced. The economics of building a coal plant with carbon capture remain uncertain and likely exceed $1 billion.
