A PPA is a long-term contract in which a power producer agrees to sell electricity to a buyer at agreed prices and terms; developers usually build, own, operate and finance the generation while the buyer pays for the energy over the contract life. For federal military sites, the Department of Defense already uses statutory authorities (e.g., 10 U.S.C. §2922a and FAR authorities) to enter multi‑year on‑site or off‑site PPAs—sometimes up to 30 years—to procure resilient, dedicated supply (the contractor supplies, operates, maintains the generator and the Service pays for energy or capacity per the agreement).
The Fact Sheet uses the administration’s preferred secondary title “Department of War” (an executive‑branch rebranding authorized by a 2025 executive order) but the statutory legal name and authorities remain with the Department of Defense; only Congress can change the department’s legal name. The Department (regardless of title used) has existing statutory contracting authorities (e.g., 10 U.S.C. §2922a, FAR and DoD acquisition rules) to enter energy contracts and PPAs for military installations.
Designating coal as a mineral for federal purposes makes coal explicitly treated as a mineral resource under federal mining and leasing statutes and can change which approvals and leasing and permitting rules apply on federal lands—potentially speeding leasing and removal under mineral‑entry statutes and altering environmental review/ royalty frameworks—but statutory specifics depend on the implementing rule and agency actions.
The Fact Sheet states April 2025 actions ‘‘lifted barriers’’ to coal mining on federal lands and provided ‘‘regulatory relief’’ for certain coal plants; it does not list specific regulatory provisions in the Fact Sheet itself. Public documents from that period cite steps such as reclassifying coal access, revising leasing processes, and narrowing EPA or Interior actions that had limited some coal activity—but the Fact Sheet doesn’t identify exact rules or citations. (No specific rule citations are provided in the Fact Sheet.)
The National Coal Council (NCC) is a federal advisory committee that provides industry and stakeholder advice to the Secretary of Energy on coal and related technologies; its membership typically includes coal company executives, utilities, labor, environmental consultants, academics and other stakeholders appointed by the Secretary. The NCC produces reports and recommendations that can inform DOE policy but has no rulemaking power—its influence comes through advising the Secretary and shaping options considered by the agency.
Independent analyses show coal plants provided continuous on‑site, dispatchable power during many extreme‑weather outages but have also failed in some events; wind and solar availability is variable and can be disrupted by weather and transmission issues, while combined solutions (coal or gas plus storage, grid upgrades, microgrids) are generally judged more resilient than relying on intermittent resources alone. Peer‑reviewed and government studies compare historical outage performance and show that dispatchable thermal plants typically supply steady baseload but can be vulnerable to fuel‑supply or cooling‑water constraints in extreme events.
Long‑term coal PPAs would likely increase coal generation committed to supply military loads, which would raise CO2 and other pollutant emissions compared with low‑carbon alternatives; local air‑pollutant impacts depend on plant emission controls but can worsen air quality near plants; electricity price impacts are uncertain—PPAs can lock in predictable energy prices (which may be higher or lower than market rates) and can impose costs on the Government while supporting plant operating revenues that may extend plant life.