By SUZANNE DOWNING
June 5, 2026 – A long-discussed coal-fired power plant proposal in Alaska’s Susitna Valley received a major boost this week after President Donald Trump announced a $700 million federal investment package aimed at revitalizing the nation’s coal industry.
The Alaska project, known as the Terra Energy Center, is expected to receive approximately $200 million in federal funding through the US Department of Energy, making it one of only three coal-fired power projects selected nationwide. The other projects are located in West Virginia and Maryland.
The announcement came Thursday as part of a broader Trump initiative that includes $425 million for upgrades to 13 existing coal plants and additional support through the Defense Production Act. Trump described the projects as employing “very clean” coal technology and said they are part of a broader effort to strengthen America’s energy security and industrial base.
For Alaska, the funding represents one of the largest federal endorsements of a major energy project of its type in years.
The Terra Energy Center, being developed by Terra Energy Center Corporation, an affiliate of Canada-based Flatlands Energy, would be built in the West Susitna region near Skwentna. The project includes not only a coal-fired power plant but also development of a new coal mine, transmission infrastructure, and carbon capture components.
Project backers have promoted the facility as a source of reliable baseload power for the Railbelt at a time when concerns are growing about long-term Cook Inlet natural gas supplies. Abundant, affordable electricity could help attract data centers and other energy-intensive industries to Alaska.
Plans for the project have evolved significantly over the past several years.
Early proposals envisioned a roughly 400-megawatt coal-and-biomass facility paired with carbon capture and storage technology. More recent announcements have described a much larger project, potentially generating as much as 1.25 gigawatts of electricity from locally mined coal.
The coal would come from reserves in the Susitna Coal Basin, an area that has been known to contain significant coal deposits since exploration conducted by Mobil Oil in the 1970s.
The federal announcement follows several major developments earlier this year.
In March, project developers announced a $1 billion agreement-in-principle with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Power Systems for utility-scale boilers. Company officials described it as the first U.S. order for such equipment since 2006.
That same announcement included a reported $500 million equity investment commitment from Korean private equity firm KOREIT.
Alaska, under the Dunleavy Administration, has a growing interest in attracting artificial intelligence data centers and other large industrial electricity consumers. Earlier this year, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly voted to support marketing efforts aimed at attracting major power users to the region, overriding a veto from Mayor Edna DeVries.
The project remains far from construction, however.
Developers must still secure permits, financing, transmission infrastructure, and customers willing to purchase the power. No firm power purchase agreements have been publicly announced.
The proposal faces opposition from environmental nonprofit groups.
The Susitna River Coalition has complained that the project could transform a remote wilderness region into a large industrial zone while relying heavily on public subsidies and optimistic assumptions about carbon capture technology.
Still, the Trump administration’s funding announcement dramatically changes the landscape for the proposal.
If the project advances to construction, it would become one of the first new coal-fired power plants built in the United States in more than a decade and would mark the most significant expansion of Alaska’s coal industry since the development of the state’s existing coal operations near Healy.
Currently, Alaska’s only active coal mine is the Usibelli Coal Mine, which produces roughly one million tons of coal annually and supplies Interior Alaska power plants.
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2 thoughts on “Trump administration backs Alaska coal project with $200 million grant: Energy announcement”
Yes I support mineral extraction. For energy, employment opportunities, and a stable production based economy.
Since the Chugach Electric board is controlled by the environmentalists and George Soros, there is a substantial risk that they would refuse to purchase the power from the coal plant. And the Native corporations and tribes will demand some kind of a payout/off. This is Healy II all over again.