Many utilities have stated climate goals. However, those goals are meaningless greenwashing without utilities taking the necessary actions to decarbonize.

To protect our planet and communities from disaster, we must do everything we can to limit global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F). This next decade is critical to our chances to decarbonize and hit an emissions pathway consistent with a 1.5°C future.

While this is a daunting timeline, the clean energy alternatives are available to make this transition on the needed time frame. There is no time to waste and no excuse for failing to act. Cleaning up the electricity sector is the key to economy-wide decarbonization, and electric utilities have a large role to play in making sure we are on the path toward a livable future. Many utilities have stated climate goals. However, those goals are meaningless greenwashing without utilities taking the necessary actions to decarbonize. There are three key things utilities must do to enable us to avoid catastrophic warming: They must retire existing coal plants by 2030, terminate plans to build new gas plants, and build clean energy much faster.

In this report, we examine utilities’ performance on each of these three necessary actions. Our analysis is based on integrated resource plans (IRPs) and major announcements for the 50 utilities that remain the most invested in fossil fuel generation.3 These include investor owned utilities, power authorities (like the Tennessee Valley Authority), generation and transmission co-ops, and large municipal utilities. Overall, we examine plans for 79 operating companies owned by 50 different parent companies, as detailed in the appendices.4 These 50 companies own half of all remaining coal and gas generation in the nation — 1,310 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of coal and gas generation.5 We find there is a stark difference between utilities’ existing coal and gas generation (1,310 million MWh) and how much clean energy they plan to add this decade (only 250 million MWh). In other words, despite 33 of these companies having a public climate goal, there is an enormous gap between utilities’ current practices and what they need to do to protect people and the planet.

Study scope:

50 parent companies, comprised of 79 operating companies, which own half of all remaining coal and gas generation in the US. We analyzed their plans as of December 1, 2020 to: 1. Retire coal 2. Stop building new gas plants 3. Build clean energy in this next, crucial decade.

We scored companies based on their plans to retire coal-fired power plants, stop building new gas plants, and build clean energy, all of which are necessary steps to keep warming under 1.5°C. We find that, apart from a few leaders, these companies are falling short on all three of these necessary actions.

Key Findings:

• We assigned a score to every utility based on its plans to retire coal, stop constructing new gas plants, and build new clean energy. The aggregate score for all companies studied was 17 out of 100.

• The companies studied account for 68 percent of remaining coal generation. They have committed to retire just 25 percent of their coal generation by 2030.

• Thirty-two of the operating companies included in this study are planning to build new gas plants — totaling over 36 gigawatts (GW) through 2030. That is over 40 percent of the total gas plants slated to be built across the US through 2030.

• The companies studied plan to add 250 million MWh of new wind and solar energy to the grid between 2020 and 2030. This is equivalent to only 19 percent of their current coal and gas generation and is therefore wholly inadequate to bring about a swift transition to a zero-carbon grid.

• The average score was 20 out of 100 for utilities with a net-zero climate pledge and 14 out of 100 for utilities without such a pledge, showing that utilities’ corporate pledges mean little in terms of action.

• While electric utilities have pledged to decarbonize, they fall far short of what is necessary to protect people and the planet.

We scored companies based on their plans to retire coal-fired power plants, stop building new gas plants, and build clean energy, all of which are necessary steps to keep warming under 1.5°C. We find that, apart from a few leaders, these companies are falling short on all three of these necessary actions.