Press Releases

January 25, 2021

Omaha, Nebraska - The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today, which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands. According to the report, which was co-authored by Dr. Leah Stokes of University of California, Santa Barbara, many of the utilities that made “carbon neutral” pledges received a failing grade because they are not retiring their coal and gas plants fast enough to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

January 25, 2021

Madison, WI -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking national report and research tool today, which grades the 50 largest investor-owned utilities across the country based on their current plans for the next decade for retiring coal plants, investing in clean energy, and canceling plans for construction of new gas plants -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands. The report, which includes two Wisconsin-based utilities, demonstrates that across the country, the utility sector is lagging behind what’s necessary to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and is not on track to meet President Biden's goals of 100% clean energy by 2035. The next decade is critically important to our efforts to decarbonize the electric sector and achieve an emissions pathway consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

January 25, 2021

BISMARCK, ND -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands.

January 25, 2021

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands.

Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E) was scored at an abysmal 4 out of 100, highlighting the utility’s lack of commitment to renewable energy.

January 25, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, the Sierra Club and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) filed a lawsuit in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals challenging NHTSA's interim final rule -- finalized just days before President Joe Biden’s inauguration -- that delays stiffer penalties for new cars and trucks that violate fuel-economy standards.

January 25, 2021

MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands.

January 24, 2021

TOPEKA, KS -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing readers to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands.

January 24, 2021

SAINT LOUIS, MO -- The Sierra Club released a groundbreaking report and research tool today that grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy. The tool gives the public the power to judge each utility’s climate progress based on its stated carbon reduction goals and how that compares to what science actually demands. 

January 24, 2021

Atlanta, GA -- Today, the Sierra Club released “The Dirty Truth About Utility Climate Pledges,” a report and accompanying interactive tool which grades utilities based on their plans to retire coal plants, stop building new gas plants, and invest in clean energy -- allowing the public to judge each utility’s climate progress and how it compares to what science demands. 

January 24, 2021

Duke Energy Indiana, which serves more than 850,000 customers statewide, earns an F in the report for the huge conflict between its claims of embracing clean energy while still planning to build new gas plants and refusing to stop burning coal.