The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Buckeye Power’s Cardinal Plant in Ohio as one of six projects nationwide to receive a portion of $175 million in federal funding aimed at supporting coal-fired power generation. The Kyger Creek Station, part of the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation and partially owned by Buckeye Power, Inc., was also chosen for funding.
This grant program is designed to modernize, retrofit, and extend the operational life of coal-fired plants that serve rural communities, with an emphasis on maintaining grid reliability and affordable energy. At the Cardinal Plant, the funds will be used for critical upgrades to Units 1 and 2.
The $175 million initiative is part of a broader federal strategy to strengthen the national electric grid by ensuring reliable coal-fired plants remain online.
Craig Grooms, President and CEO of Buckeye Power Inc. and Ohio’s Rural Electric Cooperatives, said: “We are grateful to be selected and excited for the opportunity to use these funds on projects that will make Cardinal station even more efficient. Coal-fired power generation has served our cooperatives in Ohio well for decades and has allowed us to keep electricity reliable and affordable for our members. Cardinal Plant is a crucial component of our diverse power generation resource mix, and we continue to believe coal plants have a critical role to play in meeting growing, future demand for electricity.”
Buckeye Power has not yet been notified about its specific allocation from the total grant amount.
Ohio legislators welcomed the DOE’s announcement. Congressman Mike Rulli (OH-6) stated: “There has been a relentless effort to malign coal for years, devastating our communities in the process and putting the grid at risk. I couldn’t be more proud of the work President Trump and his team are doing to revitalize coal, which has time and again proven to be a stable, reliable source of energy. I will continue working alongside Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives and Buckeye Power to ensure the Cardinal Plant remains a cornerstone of American energy independence.”
Congressman Troy Balderson (OH-12), who attended the White House event where President Trump announced actions regarding America’s coal industry, added: “As we saw during Winter Storm Fern, reliable and dispatchable power is critically important to the reliability of our grid and is something we cannot take for granted. I applaud the Department of Energy’s announcement of funding for two power plants in Ohio, including Buckeye Power’s Cardinal Plant. This funding will help ensure Ohio can continue to meet our growing power demand while keeping energy costs affordable for Ohioans.”
Ohio’s Electric Cooperatives operates from Columbus as an umbrella organization coordinating 24 distribution cooperatives serving homes and businesses across Ohio [source]. The organization emphasizes community engagement through programs focused on service delivery in rural areas [source]. It supplies wholesale power while supporting member systems’ efforts toward stability, affordability, reliability [source], democratic control, education initiatives, communications improvements, energy efficiency measures [source], all with an aim toward economical operations throughout various communities statewide [source].
