Energy-Related Executive Orders and Memorandum

President Trump’s Executive Orders and Memorandum and Impact on Energy Sector

President Trump has issued several Executive Orders and a Memorandum that may have impacts on the energy sector.

Stoel Rives is actively tracking the energy sector impacts of these Executive Orders and the Memorandum, as well as other actions taken by the new administration, and will provide updates in these Alerts as appropriate.

If you have questions or would like to discuss how these actions may affect your business, please contact one of the attorney contacts listed below.

The actions we are currently monitoring include:

Strengthening The Reliability And Security Of The United States Electric Grid directs the Secretary of Energy, within 30 days of the date of the EO, to develop a uniform methodology for analyzing current and anticipated reserve margins for all regions of the bulk power system regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and use the methodology to identify current and anticipated regions with reserve margins below acceptable thresholds. Additionally, the Secretary of Energy is directed to establish a process by which the aforementioned methodology and any analysis and results it produces, are assessed on a regular basis, and a protocol to identify which generation resources within a region are critical to system reliability. The protocol will be used to prevent, as the Secretary of Energy deems appropriate and consistent with applicable law, including section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, an identified generation resource in excess of 50 megawatts of nameplate capacity from leaving the bulk power system or converting the source of fuel of such generation resource if such conversion would result in a net reduction in accredited generating capacity, as determined by the reserve margin methodology.
Protecting American Energy From State Overreach. This EO directs the Attorney General, in consultation with the heads of appropriate executive departments and agencies, to identify all state and local laws, regulations, causes of action, policies, and practices (collectively, State laws) burdening the identification, development, siting, production, or use of domestic energy resources that are or may be unconstitutional, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unenforceable. The Attorney General is directed to prioritize the identification of “any such State laws purporting to address ‘climate change’ or involving ‘environmental, social, and governance’ initiatives, ‘environmental justice,’ carbon or ‘greenhouse gas’ emissions, and funds to collect carbon penalties or carbon taxes.” Next, the Attorney General is directed to expeditiously take all appropriate action to stop the enforcement of State laws and continuation of civil actions thus identified. Within 60 days of the date of the EO, the Attorney General must submit a report to the President, through the Counsel to the President, regarding actions and recommend any additional presidential or legislative action necessary to stop the enforcement of the State laws identified or that otherwise fulfill the purpose of this EO.
Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241. The EO directs the following actions:
- The Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) must designate coal as a “mineral” as defined in section 2 of Executive Order 14241 of March 20, 2025 (Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production), thereby entitling coal to all the benefits of a “mineral” under that order.
- Within 60 days of the date of this EO, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Secretary of Energy must submit a consolidated report to the President through the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy that identifies coal resources and reserves on federal lands, assesses impediments to mining such coal resources, and proposes policies to address such impediments and ultimately enable the mining of such coal resources by either private or public actors. The Secretary of Energy must include an analysis of the impact that the availability of the coal resources identified could have on electricity costs and grid reliability in the report.
- The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture are directed to prioritize coal leasing and related activities as the primary use for the public lands with coal resources identified in the report and expedite coal leasing in these areas, including by utilizing emergency authorities available to them and identifying opportunities to provide for expedited environmental reviews.
- The Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to the authorities in the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands of 1947, and the Multiple Mineral Development Act of 1954 (30 U.S.C. 521-531 et seq.) must publish a notice in the Federal Register terminating the “Environmental Impact Statement Analyzing the Potential Environmental Effects from Maintaining Secretary Jewell’s Coal Leasing Moratorium” and process royalty rate reduction applications from federal coal lessees in as expeditious a manner as permitted by applicable law.
- Within 30 days of the date of this EO, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Secretary of Transportation, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Energy, the Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of the Treasury must identify any guidance, regulations, programs, and policies within their respective executive department or agency that seek to transition away from coal production and electricity generation.
- Within 60 days of the date of this EO, the heads of all relevant executive departments and agencies must consider revising or rescinding federal actions identified that seek to transition the nation away from coal production and electricity generation.
- Agencies that are empowered to make loans, loan guarantees, grants, equity investments, or conclude offtake agreements, both domestically and abroad, are also directed to take steps to rescind any policies or regulations seeking to or that actually discourage investment in coal production and coal-fired electricity generation, such as the 2021 U.S. Treasury Fossil Fuel Energy Guidance for Multilateral Development Banks.
- Within 30 days of the date of this EO, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of Energy, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Development Finance Corporation, the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and the heads of all other agencies that have discretionary programs that provide, facilitate, or advocate for financing of energy projects must review their charters, regulations, guidance, policies, international agreements, analytical models, and internal bureaucratic processes to ensure that such materials do not discourage the agency from financing coal-mining projects and electricity-generation projects. Where appropriate, any identified preferences against coal use shall immediately be eliminated except as explicitly provided for in statute.
- The Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Energy, the United States Trade Representative, the Assistant to the President for National Security, and the heads of other relevant agencies, must take all necessary and appropriate actions to promote and identify export opportunities for coal and coal technologies and facilitate international offtake agreements for United States coal.
- Within 30 days of the date of this EO, each agency must identify to the Council on Environmental Quality any existing and potential categorical exclusions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act that agencies could utilize to further the production and export of coal.
- The Secretary of Energy, pursuant to the authority under the Energy Act of 2020, must determine whether coal used in the production of steel meets the definition of a “critical material” under the Act and, if so, shall take steps to place it on the Department of Energy Critical Materials List.
- The Secretary of the Interior, pursuant to the authority under the Energy Act of 2020, must determine whether metallurgical coal used in the production of steel meets the criteria to be designated as a “critical mineral” under the Act and, if so, take steps to place coal on the Department of the Interior Critical Minerals List.
- Within 60 days of the date of this EO, the Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of Energy must identify regions where coal-powered infrastructure is available and suitable to support artificial intelligence (AI) data centers; assess the market, legal, and technological potential for expanding coal-based infrastructure to power data centers to meet the electricity needs of AI and high-performance computing operations; and submit a consolidated summary report with their findings and proposals to the Chair of the NEDC, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, and the Special Advisor for AI and Crypto.
- The Secretary of Energy is directed to take all necessary actions to accelerate the development, deployment, and commercialization of coal technologies including, but not limited to, utilizing all available funding mechanisms to support the expansion of coal technology, including technologies that utilize coal and coal byproducts such as building materials, battery materials, carbon fiber, synthetic graphite, and printing materials, as well as updating coal feedstock for power generation and steelmaking.
- Within 90 days of the date of this EO, the Secretary of Energy must submit a detailed action plan to the President through the Chair of the NEDC outlining the funding mechanisms, programs, and policy actions taken to accelerate coal technology deployment.
Regulatory Relief For Certain Stationary Sources To Promote American Energy exempts certain stationary sources from a May 7, 2024 amendment to the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule for a period of two years beyond the compliance date – e., for the period beginning July 8, 2027, and concluding July 8, 2029. During this two-year period, these stationary sources will remain subject to the compliance obligations that they are currently subject to under the MATS as the MATS existed prior to the May 7, 2024 amendment.
On February 18, President Trump issued the Ensuring Accountability for All Agencies Executive Order, which requires all “independent regulatory agencies”, as defined by 44 USC 3502(5), including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to submit for review all “proposed and final significant regulatory actions” to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Executive Office of the President before publication in the Federal Register. The EO also requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to establish performance standards and management objectives for independent agency heads, to report periodically to the President on their performance and efficiency in attaining such standards and objectives, and review independent regulatory agencies’ obligations for consistency with the President’s policies and priorities. The EO further requires additional consultation with the Executive Office of the President by requiring independent regulatory agency chairmen to consult with and coordinate policies and priorities with the directors of OMB, the White House Domestic Policy Council, and the White House National Economic Council.  The heads of independent regulatory agencies are directed to establish a “White House Liaison” position in their respective agencies, and submit agency strategic plans developed pursuant to the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 to the Director of OMB for clearance prior to finalization.
On February 14, President Trump issued the Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council Executive Order, which establishes the National Energy Dominance Council (Council) within the Executive Office of the President. The Chair of the Council will be the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of Energy will serve as Vice Chair. The Chair of the Council will also serve as a standing member of the National Security Council. The function of the Council, amongst other things, is to:
1. advise the President on how best to exercise his authority to produce more energy to make America energy dominant;
2. advise the President on improving the processes for permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation, transportation, and export of all forms of American energy, including critical minerals; and
3. provide to the President a recommended National Energy Dominance Strategy to produce more energy that includes long-range goals of enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the energy-producing economy, focusing on innovation, and seeking to eliminate longstanding, but unnecessary, regulation.
Within 100 days of the date of the EO, the Council must recommend actions agencies can take to increase electricity capacity, facilitate approvals for energy infrastructure, approve the construction of natural gas pipelines to, or in, New England, California, Alaska, and other areas of the country deemed underserved by American natural gas, reopen closed power plants, and bring Small Modular Nuclear Reactors online. Additionally, the Council must advise the President on identifying and ending practices that raise the cost of energy, and incentives to attract and retain private sector energy-production investments.
On January 20, President Trump issued the Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects, which includes a temporary cessation of the issuance of new or renewed approvals, rights of way, permits, leases or loans for onshore or offshore wind projects pending the completion of a comprehensive assessment and review of federal wind leasing and permitting practices.
- Department of the Interior (DOI) Order Suspending Delegated Authority. The DOI was the first to act in response to this Memorandum when it issued Order No. 3415 on January 20th (DOI Order). In the DOI Order, the Secretary of the Interior suspended the delegation of authority to all department bureaus and offices (which includes the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)) “[t]o issue any onshore or offshore renewable energy authorization, including but not limited to a lease, amendment to a lease, right of way, amendment to a right of way, contract, or any other agreement required to allow for renewable energy development.” (emphasis added.) The order will continue in effect for 60 days or until any provisions are amended, superseded, or revoked. It is unclear at this time whether the 60-day period will be extended.
  - On January 29, 2025, the DOI issued Amendment No. 1 to Order No. 3415, available here. The Amendment expands the list of temporarily suspended actions (see Sec. 3.c and 3.d).
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Notice regarding Eagle Permits. In response to the Memorandum, on or about January 24th, the USFWS published a notice on its website for Eagle Disturbance Take (General), that the service is “temporarily ceasing issuance of eagle permits to wind facilities until further notice.” See USFWS, 3-200-91: Eagle Disturbance Take.
On January 20, the Unleashing American Energy order was issued, stating it is the policy of the United States to encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters, and to eliminate the “electric vehicle (EV) mandate,” and which includes a direction to federal agencies to immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
On January 20, the Declaring a National Energy Emergency, order was issued, directing the heads of executive departments and agencies to identify any lawful authorities available to them to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on federal lands.