With the immediate growth of AI data centers forcing utilities to extend the life of fossil fuel plants, this surge in demand is delaying the transition to a cleaner grid. A high-tech future is expected to double by 2030, threatening clean energy goals and air quality.
According to new research released on Wednesday by Frontier Group, Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, there is a dramatic slowdown in the previously accelerating pace of coal plant retirements because utility companies are responding to a rise in electricity demand from data centers and other sources.
“It’s great that renewable energy is growing rapidly, but we also need to be transitioning away from dirty energy sources. We can’t afford to lose ground on that front,” Johanna Neumann, senior director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center, said. “Pollution from fossil fuels harms our kids’ lungs and dangerously heats up our planet. We need to get our priorities straight. A healthy, safe environment is essential for a good quality of life.”
The study compared data from 2022, “when the country was retiring power plants at a pace that would lead to a coal-free grid by 2040,” with current data from 2025 that shows a 13 percent increase in coal-fired power plants. The current pace would keep power plants online until 2065.
The increased electricity demand from data centers and other sources is harming environmental and public health, according to a research paper Fossil fuel plants are staying online longer. That means dirtier air. The research paper uses data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to quantify the amount of air pollution, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury, which are produced by many of the fossil fuel power plants.
“We’ll all suffer if we rush to build new, polluting gas plants for uncertain data center demand,” Abe Scarr, U.S. PIRG Education Fund Energy and Utilities program director, said. “Instead, policy makers should prioritize no-regrets strategies like energy efficiency and renewable energy.”
Advocacy groups are demanding that data centers run on 100 renewable energy, follow efficiency standards and operate in a way that will lessen the load on the grid.
“It’s absurd to power the technology of tomorrow with the dirty and dangerous energy sources of yesterday,” Quentin Good, policy analyst with Frontier Group, said. “Harming the environment and jeopardizing people’s health is no way to build a better future.”
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