In a room filled with coal leaders and representatives from South Korea and the Navajo Transitional Energy Co., Gov. Greg Gianforte welcomed them “to the home of beautiful, clean coal.”
“We are pleased to help you keep the lights on,” Gianforte said. “In Montana, we mine about 26 million metric tons of coal every year — about half of that is exported — and if you're willing, we'd like to send you more.”
Gianforte was on stage on Wednesday at the DoubleTree in Billings with five leaders from South Korea-owned power generating companies who took turns asking him questions about Montana’s energy landscape in what was titled a fireside chat.
The governor repeatedly emphasized strong working relations with South Korea as he said the relationship between the two governments is growing with the amount of coal exported. Gianforte said he would welcome an expanded relationship with the Asian country.
“I always say I'm with the government and my job is to stay out of the way so private industry can do their business,” Gianforte said. “I think there are opportunities. We've been talking about what is the most efficient way for us to get you expanded coal, recognizing that some of your other suppliers are from less stable parts of the world. And whether it's Koreans or Americans, when you flip the light switch on it's nice that the light bulb comes on. But to do that you need reliable supply. We want to be that partner.”
Montana has the largest recoverable coal reserves in the United States.
The meeting comes as South Korea’s administration has pledged to retire all coal plants by 2040 and transition to renewable energy, posing a further existential crisis to coal demand. The country is currently powered by about 30% coal. The transition to renewables is meant to make the country less reliant on exports and consequently increase its own energy security.
The governor recognized opposition to power generated by coal in both countries.
“We have some of that here too, but I think that our path forward, given the massive increase in energy demand, is to focus on innovation so that we can burn coal more cleanly, protect the environment, rather than regulating it out of existence. Because that will leave us with an unstable grid and very high electricity prices,” Gianforte said.
Despite the rhetoric of “clean coal” often used by President Donald Trump to provoke environmentalists, coal remains the most polluting of all fossil fuels and the single biggest driver of climate change. Coal demand has been on the decline generally, not just because of environmental regulations which Trump has targeted, but also because of improved natural gas extraction techniques that have made gas power cheaper and more reliable than coal as a constant source of power.
The advance of gas power and renewables has led to lower market interest in coal overall. The first new federal coal lease offered in years was rejected in October. Navajo Transitional Energy Co. offered $0.001 per ton for their Spring Creek Mine near Decker, Montana. BLM considered it too low of a price.
The company's low bid of $186,000 for the federal lease happened even with the pro-coal policies of the Trump administration and increased energy demand. For comparison, the last successful sale of a coal lease in the Powder River Basin was for $793 million, or $1.10 per ton of coal for 721 million tons in Wyoming in 2012.
About a third of Spring Creek Mine’s coal is exported to Asia, according to customer numbers in 2020, though many of the domestic power plants it supplies coal for are set to close, leaving the company to look elsewhere for customers. For Signal Peak near Roundup, about 95% of its coal is exported to Asia.
Both of Montana's Republican senators, Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, gave recorded speeches at the Wednesday event.
“As a fifth generation Montanan, I know the importance of our state's natural resources to our way of life,” Daines said. “Coal is an engine to our economy. The industry supports hundreds of jobs and protects America's energy dominance. You all do remarkable work to keep Montana energy dominance strong, and I'm thrilled that in the past two years we've saved Montana coal mines from shutting down and rolled back harmful Biden-era restrictions that were threatening to kill the industry.”
In the past year, Montana’s all-Republican congressional delegation has successfully worked to reopen new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin, removing an amendment to a Bureau of Land Management resource management plan that prohibited federal sales in the state. The document, authored under the Biden administration, cited declining market interest in coal and climate change in its decision to halt new federal coal leases in Montana. It still would have allowed for coal mining for more than a decade.
Even with the removal of the amendment signed last year, no new coal leases have been put forth by the federal government for bids in the Powder River Basin.
At the event, Gianforte emphasized an “all-of-the-above” energy policy in Montana. Meanwhile, Trump has obstructed wind and solar in his second term. That recently included his administration paying a French company $1 billion to walk away from a wind energy project, and to instead have the company invest in fossil fuel projects. Trump also announced an $850 million investment in coal generation earlier this June. Montana was not included in that outlay.
“We think economics should determine the outcomes, and we should be focusing on innovation, not regulation,” Gianforte said. “I’m not sure all states in the United States share that same perspective, but that is ours, and it's important that we let economics and innovation protect the environment and drive our energy decisions.”
Prior to the event, Florida-based NextEra Energy cancelled its Glendive Wind project. Height regulations implemented by a local county ballot initiative effectively restricted the $1.85 billion wind energy project slated for Eastern Montana. Gianforte previously celebrated the completion of NextEra’s Clearwater Wind in 2024 as part of the state’s all-of-the-above energy approach.
The chat concluded with Gianforte and the energy representatives exchanging gifts. Among other gifts like a tea kettle, the governor received a plaque commending his support and engagement with South Korea.
“In recognition of your leadership and participation, and in gratitude for the friendship and partnership between the people of the United States, the State of Montana, and the Republic of Korea,” the plaque stated. “May this cooperation continue to strengthen the energy security of both our nations for generations to come.”