Despite Trump, Solar Power Is Rising And Coal Is Falling

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US President Donald Trump has been furiously pumping up coal, but reality keeps bursting his bubble. Exhibit A is the massive Sherco coal power plant in Minnesota. Once a massive gigantic monument to 20th century energy technology, the site is now home to the Sherco Energy Hub, where three existing coal units are succumbing to the inevitable march of 21st century solar power, energy storage, and transmission systems.

Coal Power Vs. Solar Power: Reality Bites

The Sherburne County (Sherco for short) power plant was initially constructed in the 1970’s with two units. A third unit came online the 1980’s at a cost of approximately $1 billion, making Sherco the biggest power plant in Minnesota at 2.2 gigawatts.

Despite its billion-dollar price tag, though, Unit 3 experienced a catastrophic failure in 2011, forcing it offline. Unit 3 finally returned to service in 2013 at an additional cost of $200 million.

Those extraordinary outlays help explain why the current majority owner, Xcel Energy, has been planning to retire all three units. The company announced the initial retirement timetable in 2015, just two years after completing repairs on Unit 3.

Although the cost of solar power was still relatively high at the time, the writing was already on the wall. Low cost natural gas began pushing coal out of the power generation business in the early 2000’s. Wind and solar were not as competitive during that period, but costs were dropping rapidly, particularly in the case of solar power. In addition, customers elsewhere in Xcel’s territory, notably Colorado, were vigorously pressing the case for renewable energy.

There Goes Another Coal Power Plant

While nuclear energy and natural gas may continue to play a role in Xcel’s plans for Minnesota, coal is on the way out, and the company’s commitment to ditching coal underscores the financial advantages underpinning the decarbonization movement.

Initially, Xcel planned to replace the Sherco coal units with natural gas, but regulators were wary of the high cost. Renewable energy advocates pushed back as well, resulting in plans to build a 710-megwatt solar array near the site of the coal power plant.

Earlier this week Xcel reported that the first three phases of its new solar array — located near the coal power plant site — are fully completed at a total capacity of 710 megawatts. “A proposed fourth phase would bring the Sherco Solar’s total generating capacity to 910 megawatts – capable of powering more than 190,000 homes – by 2029,” Xcel also noted.

To date, Xcel has already retired Sherco Unit 2, with Unit 1 to follow shortly after and Unit 3 scheduled to cross the rainbow bridge in 2030.

So much for Trump’s pledge to bring back coal. At one time, Sherco was consuming approximately 9 million tons of coal per year, but that was then.

Supporting Solar Power With Energy Storage

Plans for the newly dubbed Sherco Energy Hub begin with solar power, but they don’t end there.  The Energy Hub will also draw on two new lithium-ion energy storage systems located near the site. Totaling up to 600 megawatts, the two batteries are currently in the pre-construction approval phase.

As of 2024, Xcel also began supporting an experimental, 10-megawatt iron-air energy system in support of the Energy Hub. Developed by the US startup Form Energy, the project was initially assisted by $70 million in funding from the US Department of Energy. Trump yanked the Energy Department’s contribution to the project last fall, but regardless of whether or not Xcel continues on its own, iron-air batteries are coming to Minnesota one way or another. Earlier this year Google engaged Form to build a 300-megawatt iron-air facility for a planned data center in the state.

And A New Transmission Line, Too

A new transmission line will also play a key role in the transformation of Sherco. “The Minnesota Energy Connection transmission line will deliver new renewable energy to customers in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest as Xcel Energy retires the Sherco coal plants and expands the use of renewable energy in southwest Minnesota,” Xcel explains.

The new transmission line is not all sweetness and light for advocates of wind and solar power. However, if all goes according to plan, renewables will dominate the capacity of the line at up to 4,000 megawatts, with 420 megawatts earmarked for a gas peaker plant that will kick in when renewables fall short.

New transmission projects are notoriously difficult to shepherd through the approval process, but the new MEC line is an intrastate line, immune from the obstacles that can set back multistate projects. Xcel will also make use of an existing grid connection to help smooth the way.

Next Steps For Coal Power In The US

As for the future of other coal power plants in the US, Trump’s desperate efforts to stop the bleeding are doomed to fail. The latest report from the US Energy Information Administration underscores how far coal power has fallen, with the prospects for any kind of recovery shrinking by the day.

In a summary emailed to CleanTechnica, Ken Bossong of The Sun Day Campaign notes that renewable energy accounted for more than 30% of US generating capacity during the first five months of this year, with wind and solar power outpacing both coal and nuclear power.

“According to the EIA’s latest “Electric Power Monthly” report (with data through May 31, 2026), renewably-generated electricity during the first five months of 2026 was 10.1% greater than in the same period of 2025,” Bossong summarized, listing utility-scale solar power in the lead with the lion’s share, up by 21.6%. Small-scale solar turned in a respectable upturn of 12.8%, with hydropower contributing an increase of 10.8% and wind bringing up the rear at 4.8%.

“By comparison, the electrical output of the nation’s nuclear power and natural gas plants experienced much slower growth – just 1.3% and 2.5% respectively,” Bossong added.

That’s a dismal track record for nuclear and natural gas, considering the pressure is on to bring more kilowatts into the nation’s grid, more quickly. Still, it’s not as bad as coal. According to US EIA, coal capacity not only failed to increase, it actually fell by 10.9%.

The numbers don’t lie. For all of Trump’s supposed support for domestic coal producers, the sun is inevitably setting over that particular energy resource.

Photo: The Sherco coal generating station in Minnesota is converting to solar power, batteries, and a new transmission line that will deliver more clean energy, despite Trump’s efforts to support coal producers (cropped, courtesy of Xcel Energy).