The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges
The 50 utility companies in the U.S. most invested in fossil fuels are planning to replace just half of their existing fossil fuel generation with clean energy by 2035, according to the Sierra Club’s 2024 Dirty Truth Report released this month.
Utilities scored an overall grade of 'D,' or 29 out of 100, in the report, only improving their overall score by 12 points since 2021, the first year Sierra Club conducted the analysis.
The Sierra Club’s annual Dirty Truth Report, supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Carbon, analyzes the plans of 75 utilities in the U.S. owned by 50 parent companies and assigns scores and grades to the utilities based on three criteria: plans to retire polluting coal plants by 2030, whether they plan to build new gas power plants through 2035, and the scale of their plans to develop clean energy through 2035. In an interactive webpage, users can see their utility’s score and what progress–if any–the utility has made toward transitioning to cleaner, more affordable energy since the first version of the report in 2021.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 continues to reduce the cost of clean energy while creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. Wind and solar energy overtook coal in power generation through the first half of 2024 and are expected to continue their progress for the rest of the year, a major milestone for the power sector. But many utilities are lagging behind, deploying wind and solar too slowly while hanging on to dirty, expensive coal plants.
Although clean energy is less expensive than 99 percent of existing coal and new gas generation, only 20 of the 75 utilities have plans to be entirely coal-free by 2030. The utilities in the report are also planning to build 93 GW of new gas capacity through 2035. More companies are planning new gas plants, and the amount of planned gas per year is higher than in any previous version of our report, indicating a troubling trend among these utilities.
“Despite their promises, utilities are still lagging on delivering clean energy,” Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said. “This is the fourth year we’ve released this report, and utilities have made nowhere near enough progress to protect our health and safeguard our collective future. Burning fossil fuels is expensive, inefficient, and dangerous, and utilities have kicked the can down the road for years by delaying their plans for a clean energy future. Now, utilities have an opportunity to do better by their customers and communities across the country by investing in safe, reliable, affordable clean energy.”
“Even with the clear economic and environmental benefits of clean energy, the dirty truth is that utilities continue to prioritize fossil fuels over the health of our planet and people,” said Antha Williams, who leads the Environment program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. “With the incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act and rapid advancements in clean energy technology, transitioning to renewable energy is easier than ever. It is imperative for utilities to step up and deliver reliable, affordable, and clean energy for all.”
