Supported the Movement for Black Lives
Put its resources toward efforts to help families in need during the COVID-19 pandemic
Mourned the loss of a groundbreaking Supreme Court justice
Soldiered through the most consequential presidential election in American history.
And through it all, we continued to work side by side with communities of every race, color, and creed to retire dangerous, polluting coal plants, replace them with clean energy, and support a fair economic transition for workers and communities.
Despite fierce opposition from the Trump administration and its allies, 2020 was the biggest year ever for coal plant retirement announcements, and also the biggest year ever for new wind and solar in the US. We crossed two milestones this year – 60 percent of plants are now announced to retire, and 50 percent of total megawatts. We helped retire 36 coal plants in 2020 alone. And during the four years of Donald Trump’s presidency, nearly 100 coal plants were committed
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The demolition capped off another tumultuous year for coal power. The industry helped build the modern West, but it’s collapsing as utility companies turn to natural gas, solar panels and wind turbines for lower-cost electricity, and as voters demand cleaner energy to reduce air pollution and confront the climate crisis.
New Mexico’s Escalante Generating Station produced its final coal-fired electrons in August, and Portland General Electric shut down Oregon’s last coal plant in October. Those facilities will be joined in retirement in the next few days by one of two units at Washington’s Centralia coal plant and one of four units at Arizona’s Cholla coal plant. PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway empire, expects its Cholla unit to come offline around noon today, Christmas Eve.