The story. Only four U.S. coal plants closed in 2025, shedding just 2.6 gigawatts of capacity — less than a third of the 8.5 GW originally scheduled. The Department of Energy issued emergency orders keeping several plants running for grid reliability, while other operators simply delayed or cancelled closures on their own.

The bigger picture. Coal generated 652 terawatt-hours of U.S. electricity in 2024 (Ember), the third-largest source behind gas (1,870 TWh) and nuclear (782 TWh). That coal output helps keep the country's carbon intensity — how much CO2 is emitted per unit of electricity — at 384 grams per kilowatt-hour (Ember, 2024). The figure sits below the global average of 471 gCO2/kWh (Ember, 2024) but is nearly double the EU's 210 (Ember, 2025), where utilities are accelerating coal phase-outs. The U.S. is moving the opposite direction: retirements have dropped each year since 2022, when operators shut down 13.7 GW. The largest 2025 closure, the Intermountain Power Project in Utah, captures the pattern — its 1,800 MW of coal capacity was partly replaced by a 1,017 MW gas plant on the same site, swapping one fossil fuel for another.

The tension. Another 6.4 GW of coal retirement is scheduled for 2026, but emergency orders, regulatory uncertainty, and operator caution could stall those closures too. Each delay extends the dirtiest fuel's run on the grid while wind (452 TWh) and solar (304 TWh) continue scaling up alongside it rather than replacing it (Ember, 2024).