Watch the history of coal power plants in the United States

Date Published: February 5, 2024

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Coal generated about 50% of the nation’s electricity in 1920. Eight decades later it held the same market share, a remarkable run of dominance. It would be difficult to overstate coal’s role in the nation’s rise to an economic and military superpower and its unprecedented material living standards. The heavy reliance on coal is a major reason why the United States has emitted more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other country.

Most coal-fired power plants operating in the United States were built in the 1970s and 1980s. These aging coal-fired power plants have been rapidly retired because they cannot compete with the growing number of highly efficient, modern natural gas-fired power plants and low-cost renewables such as wind and solar.¹ The climate policies of many states mandate dramatic reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the installation of new renewable electricity generation. The high cost and carbon intensity of electricity from coal-fired power plants make it increasingly difficult to compete under these conditions.

1 U.S. Energy Information Administration, “Coal and natural gas plants will account for 98% of U.S. capacity retirements in 2023,” February 7, 2023, https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=55439

Coal, Electricity, Fossil Fuels, History, Power Plants, United States

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