📉 Coal has decreased from half to one-seventh of US electricity production in 15 years

• Carbon dioxide emissions from US electricity production have decreased by approximately 40 percent since 2005.
• Solar and wind power now produce more electricity than coal and employ more American workers.
• The shutdown of coal power plants has prevented over one million asthma attacks and 60,000 premature deaths.

Sierra Club's campaign has closed 390 coal power plants

Fifteen years ago, coal power accounted for half of US electricity production. Today, coal accounts for approximately one-seventh. The change is largely the result of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which started in the early 2000s.

The campaign has used legal and economic arguments to close coal power plants in both Republican and Democratic states. In total, 390 coal power plants have either been closed or received commitments for shutdown. Less than one-third of the original coal fleet is still in operation.

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg financed the campaign after seeing that it used businesslike and analytical methods rather than traditional environmental activism.

Economics drives the change

The campaign's main argument has been economic. Operating most existing coal power plants has become more expensive than building new solar and wind farms as well as natural gas plants.

Attorneys from Beyond Coal have repeatedly gotten utility executives to admit under oath that coal costs their customers more than renewable energy. In Oklahoma, attorney Kristin Henry showed that coal imported from Wyoming already cost more per kilowatt-hour than local wind power.

The average American coal power plant is 45 years old. The last new coal power plant came online twelve years ago, and even that relatively new plant has now broken down and must close until 2027.

Renewable energy dominates new investments

Solar, wind, and batteries accounted for 94 percent of US new electricity capacity in 2024. Battery storage grew by two-thirds during the same year.

In California, renewable energy now generates more than a quarter of all electricity. In Texas, the figure is one-third.

California and New England have become completely coal-free. Beyond Coal has helped close all but one of the 25 power plants that the organization originally identified as most harmful to local communities.

Health effects of the shutdowns

According to Sierra Club, the shutdowns of coal power plants have prevented over one million asthma attacks and 60,000 premature deaths.

Total US carbon dioxide emissions have decreased by approximately 20 percent from 2005 levels. Emissions from electricity production specifically have decreased by around 40 percent.

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