Arizona communities bank on Trump's push for coal to ensure they're not forgotten

JOSEPH CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Brantley Baird never misses a chance to talk history, from how his great-grandmother helped settle the town of Snowflake long before Arizona was granted statehood to tales of riding to school bareback and tethering his horse outside the one-room schoolhouse.

His family worked the land and raised livestock, watching the railroad come and go and cattle empires rise and fall. Then came the coal-fired power plants, built throughout northern Arizona and northwestern New Mexico to power progress in distant Western cities.

The plants would play their own role in the history of the region and could wind up at the center of its uncertain future.

The Cholla Power Plant stands just down the road from where Baird, 88, has been building a museum to showcase covered wagons, weathered farm implements and other remnants of frontier days. For years the plant powered the local economy, providing jobs and tax revenues for the unincorporated community of Joseph City, its schools and neighboring towns, but now the vapors from its stacks have dissipated.

These days, change is in the air. Cholla is the latest in a long line of U.S. coal-fired plants to retire, shutting down in March. Arizona Public Service said it had become too costly to operate due to strict environmental regulations. The mandates were aimed at reining in coal-burning utilities, long viewed by scientists as major contributors to warming the planet.

Last month, however, President Donald Trump reversed course, signing new executive orders aimed at restoring “ beautiful, clean coal ” to the forefront of U.S. energy supplies. He urged his administration to find ways to reopen Cholla and delay the planned retirements of others. As part of his push toward energy independence, Trump has pledged to tap domestic sources — coal included — to fuel a new wave of domestic manufacturing and technology, namely innovations in artificial intelligence.

In the West, where the vision of far-off politicians sometimes crashes against reality, Baird and many of his neighbors were encouraged that Trump put Cholla in the spotlight, but there's some skepticism about what the utilities will do with the plants.

“As many jobs as it gives people, as much help just to our school district right here that we get out of there, we’re hoping that it will come back, too,” said Baird, who used to work at the Cholla plant and has served on the Joseph City School Board.

Yet, he and others wonder if it's too late for coal.

Just weeks before Trump announced his plans, the U.S. Energy Information Administration projected a 65% increase in retirements of coal-fired generation in 2025 compared with last year.

The largest plant on that list is the 1,800-megawatt Intermountain Power Project in Utah. It’s being replaced by a plant capable of burning natural gas and hydrogen.

Utilities, already looking to increase capacity, aren't sure Trump's orders will lead them back to coal.

“I think it’s safe to say that those plants that are scheduled or slated to retire are probably still going to move in that direction, for a couple of reasons," said Todd Snitchler, CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, which represents power plant owners. "One of which is it’s very difficult to plan multimillion- or billion-dollar investments for environmental retrofits and other things on an executive order versus a legislative approach.”

Last month, Republicans in the Arizona Legislature sent a letter to U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum warning that the economic fallout from the 2019 closure of the Navajo Generating Station is still reverberating. The stacks were demolished, and the mine that supplied the plant closed.

At the San Juan Generating Station in northwestern New Mexico, operations ended in 2022.

Stuck in the middle are Joseph City and other communities where life revolves around a power plant. Residents hope Trump can help keep them in the energy race for another generation. From Joseph City to Springerville, they've been preparing to absorb major hits to the job market, tax rolls and school enrollment. Options are slim in Apache and Navajo counties — two of Arizona’s poorest.

Utility executives told Arizona regulators recently that reopening Cholla would be costly for customers and that they plan to push ahead with renewable energy. The plant’s infrastructure would be preserved as a possible site for future nuclear or gas-fired power generation, and the Springerville Generating Station could be repurposed once the last units are retired in 2032.

The utility that runs the coal-fired Coronado Generating Station, just 30 miles (48 kilometers) away in St. Johns, also has plans to convert to natural gas.

In Springerville, the idea of spoiling the surrounding grasslands and ancient volcanic fields with 112 wind turbines — with blades standing taller than Seattle's Space Needle — provokes outrage. Banners and posters objecting to the proposal are plastered around town.

“They all know that this won’t work, that we can’t rely on wind and solar,” said Doug Henderson, a Springerville plant retiree who now sits on the town council. He says coal-fired generation can accommodate swings in demand, regardless of whether there’s sunshine or wind.

Springerville Mayor Shelly Reidhead and others are fighting to keep the wind farm from happening, saying repurposing the Springerville coal plant would mean more jobs and preserve the surrounding landscape.

“We also survive on tourism and people don't want to come here and look at that,” Reidhead said of the turbines.

The Western Drug and General Store is adorned with tiny American flags tacked up outside. A sign advertises canning supplies, but locals joke that you can get anything here — from slippers to rifles.

Andrea Hobson works the register and knows everyone by name. She moved to Springerville about 20 years ago from California and says it's hard to imagine the community without the power plant.

“It would be a ghost town. It really would,” she said. “That’s the heart of this town.”

Springerville’s leaders have lost sleep trying to figure out what industries might fill the void. At stake are about 350 jobs, dozens of contract employees and the businesses they support — from the general store and the new frozen yogurt shop to the hospital and local churches.

Some workers drive an hour to the Springerville plant every day, meaning other communities also will lose out, said Randel Penrod, a former crew manager at the plant. With retirement looming, the plant has trimmed its workforce.

Henderson, the Springerville town council member, fears it could take years to permit a new plant.

Reidhead is more hopeful after attending meetings with members of Arizona’s congressional delegation and utility executives. She thinks the Trump administration can reduce the “red tape” and get new plants up and running. The development of artificial intelligence and its thirst for power gives the mission a sense of urgency.

“I think our politicians at a state level have realized with AI’s need for the power, that if we don’t get on board and get on board soon we’re going to be left behind,” she said.

Some energy analysts say Trump’s support of coal is mostly symbolic, since utilities hold the keys. Others say diversifying energy sources is a must as the U.S. sees increases in power demand predicted for the first time in decades.

“AI may be artificial, but the electricity it needs is very real — and in some regions, coal still keeps the lights on when other sources may blink,” said Scott Segal, a partner with the Washington D.C.-based firm Bracewell LLP.

He said power markets don’t care about politics — just reliability, affordability and sustainability.

Just outside of Joseph City, crews are building what will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects in Arizona. The solar panels will be installed on leased private land, including Baird’s sprawling ranch.

While not a fan of all the dust being kicked up, Baird knows the advent of solar is just another of many changes he has seen in his lifetime — and he has no idea what the next 100 years might look like.

“Hell, who knows?” he said. “You know, when it comes right down to it, we’ll just wait and see.”

Associated Press writer Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Students practice a fire drill at Joseph City Elementary School in Joseph City, Ariz., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

An American flag and windmill appear on display at rancher Brantley Baird's pioneer museum in Joseph City, Ariz., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

One of the billboards in opposition to an energy developer's plans for erecting more than 100 wind turbines across the grasslands and ancient lava fields is pictured just outside of Springerville, Ariz., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Cousins Arlin Rogers, right, and Ross Rogers unload slabs of beef outside their shop while talking about the jobs once provided by the coal-fired Cholla Power Plant, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Joseph City, Ariz. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Dozens of tiny American flags line the entrance to the Western Drug and General Store in Springerville, Ariz., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Rancher Brantley Baird, left, and Joseph City School Superintendent Bryan Fields discuss a historical marker near the high school sign in Joseph City, Ariz., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

The grasslands and ancient lava fields where an energy developer has proposed erecting more than 100 wind turbines, a project drawing opposition among residents in nearby Springerville, Ariz., is pictured Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Rancher Brantley Baird takes a phone call while sitting in the shade at his pioneer museum in Joseph City, Ariz., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Town Manager Tim Rasmussen, right, and Mayor Shelly Reidhead discussing the economic importance of the coal-fired Springerville Generating Station, while standing outside town hall in Springerville, Ariz., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Intersecting transmission lines are pictured near Show Low, Ariz., Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

The grasslands and rolling volcanic hills where an energy developer has proposed erecting more than 100 wind turbines, a project drawing opposition among residents in nearby Springerville, Ariz., is pictured Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

The coal-fired Cholla Power Plant, which shut down in March, is pictured Wednesday, April 23, 2025, near Joseph City, Ariz. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

The coal-fired Cholla Power Plant, which shut down in March, is pictured Wednesday, April 23, 2025, near Joseph City, Ariz. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

Rancher Brantley Baird speaks at his pioneer museum in Joseph City, Ariz., Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

NEW YORK (AP) — Reviving a campaign pledge, President Donald Trump wants a one-year, 10% cap on credit card interest rates, a move that could save Americans tens of billions of dollars but drew immediate opposition from an industry that has been in his corner.

Trump was not clear in his social media post Friday night whether a cap might take effect through executive action or legislation, though one Republican senator said he had spoken with the president and would work on a bill with his “full support.” Trump said he hoped it would be in place Jan. 20, one year after he took office.

Strong opposition is certain from Wall Street in addition to the credit card companies, which donated heavily to his 2024 campaign and have supported Trump's second-term agenda. Banks are making the argument that such a plan would most hurt poor people, at a time of economic concern, by curtailing or eliminating credit lines, driving them to high-cost alternatives like payday loans or pawnshops.

“We will no longer let the American Public be ripped off by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Researchers who studied Trump’s campaign pledge after it was first announced found that Americans would save roughly $100 billion in interest a year if credit card rates were capped at 10%. The same researchers found that while the credit card industry would take a major hit, it would still be profitable, although credit card rewards and other perks might be scaled back.

About 195 million people in the United States had credit cards in 2024 and were assessed $160 billion in interest charges, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says. Americans are now carrying more credit card debt than ever, to the tune of about $1.23 trillion, according to figures from the New York Federal Reserve for the third quarter last year.

Further, Americans are paying, on average, between 19.65% and 21.5% in interest on credit cards according to the Federal Reserve and other industry tracking sources. That has come down in the past year as the central bank lowered benchmark rates, but is near the highs since federal regulators started tracking credit card rates in the mid-1990s. That’s significantly higher than a decade ago, when the average credit card interest rate was roughly 12%.

The Republican administration has proved particularly friendly until now to the credit card industry.

Capital One got little resistance from the White House when it finalized its purchase and merger with Discover Financial in early 2025, a deal that created the nation’s largest credit card company. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is largely tasked with going after credit card companies for alleged wrongdoing, has been largely nonfunctional since Trump took office.

In a joint statement, the banking industry was opposed to Trump's proposal.

“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives," the American Bankers Association and allied groups said.

Bank lobbyists have long argued that lowering interest rates on their credit card products would require the banks to lend less to high-risk borrowers. When Congress enacted a cap on the fee that stores pay large banks when customers use a debit card, banks responded by removing all rewards and perks from those cards. Debit card rewards only recently have trickled back into consumers' hands. For example, United Airlines now has a debit card that gives miles with purchases.

The U.S. already places interest rate caps on some financial products and for some demographics. The Military Lending Act makes it illegal to charge active-duty service members more than 36% for any financial product. The national regulator for credit unions has capped interest rates on credit union credit cards at 18%.

Credit card companies earn three streams of revenue from their products: fees charged to merchants, fees charged to customers and the interest charged on balances. The argument from some researchers and left-leaning policymakers is that the banks earn enough revenue from merchants to keep them profitable if interest rates were capped.

"A 10% credit card interest cap would save Americans $100 billion a year without causing massive account closures, as banks claim. That’s because the few large banks that dominate the credit card market are making absolutely massive profits on customers at all income levels," said Brian Shearer, director of competition and regulatory policy at the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator, who wrote the research on the industry's impact of Trump's proposal last year.

There are some historic examples that interest rate caps do cut off the less creditworthy to financial products because banks are not able to price risk correctly. Arkansas has a strictly enforced interest rate cap of 17% and evidence points to the poor and less creditworthy being cut out of consumer credit markets in the state. Shearer's research showed that an interest rate cap of 10% would likely result in banks lending less to those with credit scores below 600.

The White House did not respond to questions about how the president seeks to cap the rate or whether he has spoken with credit card companies about the idea.

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., who said he talked with Trump on Friday night, said the effort is meant to “lower costs for American families and to reign in greedy credit card companies who have been ripping off hardworking Americans for too long."

Legislation in both the House and the Senate would do what Trump is seeking.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Josh Hawley, R-Mo., released a plan in February that would immediately cap interest rates at 10% for five years, hoping to use Trump’s campaign promise to build momentum for their measure.

Hours before Trump's post, Sanders said that the president, rather than working to cap interest rates, had taken steps to deregulate big banks that allowed them to charge much higher credit card fees.

Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have proposed similar legislation. Ocasio-Cortez is a frequent political target of Trump, while Luna is a close ally of the president.

Seung Min Kim reported from West Palm Beach, Fla.

President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport, Friday, Jan. 9, 2025, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

FILE - Visa and Mastercard credit cards are shown in Buffalo Grove, Ill., Feb. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)