Coal’s already poor economics are getting worse. Our latest analysis of coal’s costs show that by every indicator it’s losing in the marketplace:
- Coal plant owners spent $6.2 billion more in 2024 than they would have spent for the same amount of electricity generated by coal in 2021
- 95 percent of the nation’s coal fleet was more expensive in 2024 that it was in 2021
- 76 percent of U.S. coal plants saw their costs rise faster than inflation between 2021 and 2024
Because coal’s cost at most of the country’s plants is rising faster than inflation, it’s catalyzing inflation across the U.S. economy.
This analysis builds on our Coal Cost Crossover 3.0 report, which found 99 percent of America’s coal fleet is more expensive to keep running than replacement by new local wind, solar, and battery storage – and coal’s only gotten more expensive since we released that analysis.
