Donald Trump has issued a few Executive Orders related to the United States energy sector in recent weeks. As with most of Trump’s Executive Orders, it is hard to determine whether (a) they will withstand legal challenges and (b) whether they will have the purported impact.

Figure 1 | Overreach Executive Orders

On April 8^th, Trump signed an Executive Order titled REGULATORY RELIEF FOR CERTAIN STATIONARY SOURCES TO PROMOTE AMERICAN ENERGY. This executive order relates to an EPA rule governing coal-fired and oil-fired power plant emissions with an effective date of July 2024 and a compliance date of July 2027. The order pushes the compliance date out until July 2029. If you happen to own a power plant that would have been subject to this stricter obligation, this Executive Order is good news (for the rest of the electricity markets, this is largely a non-issue). Oil plants rarely run. And perhaps it is a good thing that they may be more readily available during the few hours they do run. Coal economics remain unchanged. Coal is losing out to natural gas and this Executive Order will not change the trajectory of those economics. Coal plants are postponing retirement dates due to surges in demand not because of loosened Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.