coal

October 27, 2020

On Thursday, October 29 at 10:00 AM, the Clean Power Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin will host an online event remembering the shoreline bluff collapse at We Energies’ coal-fired power plant in Oak Creek which released devastating pollution (coal ash, earth, trucks, and other debris) into Lake Michigan on Halloween 2011. We Energies was implicated in the catastrophe and additional environmental regulation violations were discovered during the response to the collapse. This Halloween will be the 9 year anniversary of the incident and the event will feature speakers who remember the collapse and will also talk about ongoing pollution from the plant that continues to impact neighbors and area residents today.

October 21, 2020

Austin, TX - The Texas Commission on Environmental Policy (TCEQ) commissioners approved an “Agreed Enforcement Order” with Xcel Energy, the owner of the Harrington Coal Plant, for violations of air quality standards that are putting the health of nearby residents at risk. Under the terms of the enforcement agreement, which were never subject to meaningful public input, the coal plant owner agreed to end its use of dirty coal and convert the plant to run on gas by January 1, 2025. 

October 16, 2020

FERC approved PJM’s compliance filing for the Minimum Office Price Rule (MOPR) today, moving forward with the disastrous rule that will block most new renewable energy resources from the PJM capacity market.

October 16, 2020

Today, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler finalized another rollback of clean water protections, which will allow utilities to keep dumping enormous quantities of toxic coal ash into unlined, leaking, and structurally unsound coal ash ponds -- putting tens of thousands of families at risk.

October 14, 2020

OUC announced today that they would stop burning coal for power by 2027 and would get 92% of their energy from renewable sources by 2050

October 8, 2020

Advocates and concerned residents testified today before the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) to raise serious objections to the proposed rate increases filed by Madison Gas and Electric (MGE). MGE’s request proposes to perpetuate and expand regressive utility rates the Walker administration approved that undermine conservation, charge lower use customers higher bills, and pose a specific harm to low income customers. The Walker-era rates are among the worst of the worst nationally in setting the amount of every bill that is “fixed”--meaning customers cannot control their bill or reduce their charges by using less energy.

October 8, 2020

Denver, CO -- This morning, community leaders and elected officials met virtually to deliver a Letter of Principles to Xcel Energy regarding its upcoming Electric Resource Plan (ERP), a process for long-term energy planning. The letter is signed by over 4,000 Xcel ratepayers and Pueblo residents, as well as over 80 elected officials across Colorado who get their electricity from Xcel and want to see the state’s largest utility transition more quickly away from polluting coal and gas plants and toward clean energy.

October 7, 2020

Puget Sound Energy’s proposed sale of its ownership share of a Montana coal plant would likely increase climate pollution, raise monthly costs for PSE customers and handicap the utility’s ability to invest in clean energy in the coming years.

October 6, 2020

Thursday morning, clean energy advocates, community members, and elected officials will deliver a signed Letter of Principles to Colorado’s largest utility, Xcel Energy, regarding their upcoming Electric Resource Plan that will determine which resources are used to generate electricity moving forward. The letter is signed by 4,000 Xcel electricity customers and Pueblo residents, as well as 70 elected officials from Xcel’s service territory.

October 1, 2020

Today, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler finalized another rollback allowing industrial polluters to skirt the Clean Air Act to release more dangerous pollution into vulnerable communities and chip away at the effectiveness of one of our nation’s bedrock environmental laws.

October 1, 2020

New Orleans, LA -- A new report from Sierra Club finds that retiring four of Louisiana’s coal burning units would save $1.1 billion, prevent 349 asthma attacks, and save 51 lives annually. Louisiana’s dirty coal plants only account for 8% of all electric generation in the state while contributing 99.7% of sulfur dioxide, 46% of nitrogen oxide, and 42% of carbon dioxide pollution of all electric generating facilities in the state. 

September 30, 2020

DENVER (Sept. 30, 2020) — After two climate modeling reports released this week highlighted the need to rapidly transition all sectors to clean energy, NRDC and Sierra Club are calling on the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC), Colorado Department of Public Health (CDPHE), and Colorado Energy Office (CEO) to translate research into reality.