CUMBERLAND, Md. — A western Maryland coal-fired power plant that closed in 2024 is expected to restart with help from $85 million in federal support, a move supporters say could add reliable power to the regional grid as Maryland residents face rising electric bills.
The funding is planned for the AES Warrior Run power plant in Allegany County, near Cumberland. The plant, once Maryland’s last operating coal-fired power facility, closed in June 2024.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday, June 4, 2026, a nearly $700 million national initiative aimed at supporting coal-fired power plants, coal mines and coal export infrastructure. The Maryland project is among the facilities included in the plan.
The administration has tied the funding to the Defense Production Act, a law that gives presidents authority to support industries considered important to national security. In announcing the coal initiative, Trump and federal officials pointed to grid reliability, domestic energy production and rising electricity demand.
Warrior Run is a coal-fired cogeneration facility south of Cumberland. The plant historically produced electricity and supplied steam to an onsite liquid carbon dioxide production facility.
The plant would feed power into the PJM regional grid rather than serving one specific town, county or neighborhood directly. Its most direct Maryland connection has historically been Potomac Edison, which serves customers in parts of western and central Maryland, including Allegany, Garrett, Washington, Frederick, Carroll, Howard and Montgomery counties.
The announcement drew praise from Delegate Matt Morgan, who said the funding aligns with calls from the Maryland Freedom Caucus to reopen power plants and lower energy costs.
“Great news for Maryland,” Morgan said in a statement, calling the Warrior Run restart a step toward “affordable energy, jobs, and a big step toward a safer, freer, and more prosperous Maryland.”
Morgan criticized Democratic energy policies and said reopening the plant would support reliable power and domestic energy production.
The Maryland Freedom Caucus has promoted a four-part energy plan that includes reopening recently closed power plants, keeping the Brandon Shores and Wagner power plants open, halting EmPOWER program fees, ending certain climate-related mandates and advancing nuclear power.
The push comes as electric bills have become a major issue for Maryland households. Customers have seen rising costs tied in part to the regional power market operated by PJM Interconnection, which coordinates electricity across Maryland and all or parts of 12 other states and the District of Columbia.
Capacity costs are essentially payments to power generators to make sure enough electricity is available during peak demand. When those costs rise, they can show up later in the supply portion of customer bills. The Maryland Office of People’s Counsel says PJM-related wholesale costs affect more than half of many Maryland customers’ electric bills and flow through the supply portion of the bill.
Supporters of the Warrior Run restart argue that bringing more dispatchable generation back online could help ease pressure on the grid by adding supply at a time when electricity demand is growing. More available generation can help reduce the supply crunch that contributes to higher capacity prices, which can eventually flow through to customers’ electric bills.
The restart would not guarantee immediate bill relief on its own. Any impact on customers would depend on when the plant returns, how it participates in the wholesale power market, fuel and operating costs, future PJM auction results and other regulatory factors.
Maryland ratepayer advocates have warned that recent regional capacity-market problems have played a major role in higher electric costs. The Office of People’s Counsel said two power plants near Baltimore, Brandon Shores and Wagner, were left out of a prior auction even though they were still being used for reliability, adding up to $5 billion to the auction results.
The Warrior Run restart also creates a notable contrast with the plant’s recent ratepayer history. In 2023, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved Potomac Edison’s request to exit its Warrior Run power contract about seven years early, with FirstEnergy saying the move could save customers nearly $80 million. The new federal support would now help bring the same facility back into service.
Critics of the coal initiative argue that public money should not be used to bring back coal-fired generation, citing environmental, climate and public health concerns. Supporters say the state needs dependable power sources to improve reliability and address rising demand.
It was not immediately clear how many jobs could return to the Cumberland-area facility or whether the plant would resume operations at its previous staffing level.
Additional details about the restart timeline, permitting requirements and long-term operating plan were not immediately available.
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