In connection with the report release, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced $109.5 million in funding for innovative projects that will catalyze next generation industries to retain and create jobs directly in energy communities.
The White House Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization released a report that was delivered to President Biden and included the initial recommendations from the Interagency Working Group to catalyze economic revitalization, create good-paying, union jobs, and support workers in energy communities – hard-hit coal, oil and gas, and power plant communities – across the country.
The Interagency Working Group identified nearly $38 billion in existing federal funding that could be accessed by energy communities for infrastructure, environmental remediation, union job creation, and community revitalization efforts.
This funding includes the over $260 million in existing resources already mobilized by the Department of the Interior to support abandoned mine land reclamation, predominantly in Appalachia. This funding will be bolstered by the historic investment in energy communities proposed by President Biden’s American Jobs Plan.
The report is a first step, delivered to the President 60 days following Executive Order 14008, which established the Interagency Working Group.
In addition to identifying resources available for immediate deployment, the report identifies urgent geographic areas, hard-hit by past coal mine and plant closures and vulnerable to more closures, that are priorities for investment and engagement and next steps for the Working Group to deliver on the President’s long-term commitment to support energy workers and communities.
$75 million in funding to engineer carbon capture projects – This funding will support customized engineering designs to install carbon capture and storage technology for power and industrial plants.
Retrofitting with carbon capture technology could employ a similar workforce that exists today in energy communities and position American industry to compete in a global economy that is rapidly turning toward decarbonization.
$19.5 million in funding awards for critical mineral extraction from coal and associated waste streams – Critical minerals are vital to the manufacture of batteries, magnets, and other important components for making electric vehicles (EV) and other clean energy technology.
Coal communities and workers could be well-positioned to see new industrial jobs extracting critical materials from the waste left behind by coal mining and coal power plants in many areas.
$15 million for geothermal energy research projects at West Virginia University and Sandia National Laboratories – DOE will provide up to $15 million for two projects to help drive down costs and risks associated with the discovery of new geothermal resources for power production and heating-cooling.
West Virginia University (WVU) will use the funding to explore year-round deep-direct use heating and cooling on campus in preparation for the 2027 planned closure of the existing coal-fired cogeneration plant that supplies steam for the school.
WVU will drill an exploratory well with a full logging and coring program critical to developing the resource under the campus and will evaluate shallow reservoirs for energy storage, away from fossil fuels and transitioning to a fully clean grid by 2035.
Sandia National Laboratories will use innovative approaches to conduct electromagnetic surveys to refine geothermal exploration methods and aid drillers as they explore for geothermal energy in the Western United States, a potential opportunity to create jobs for laid-off oil and gas workers. ■