It’s official: Data centers are slowing America’s shift away from coal
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- Energy Information Administration reported US power-sector carbon emissions rose 4% last year versus 2% economy-wide, attributing the spike to a 13% increase in coal generation partly fueled by data-center demand.
- Data centers could exceed 10% of US electricity use by 2030 and run around the clock, including when wind and solar output is low, extending the life of aging coal plants that utilities had planned to retire.
- Solar and wind also surged in 2025, with solar now outproducing coal during sunny low-demand months — but the article notes coal 'is not shrinking' to match that growth.
- Natural gas exports pushed domestic prices higher, making coal relatively cheaper and helping it regain generation share despite the build-out of renewables.
- Donald Trump and Energy Secretary Chris Wright issued emergency orders preventing retirement of at least half a dozen coal plants, yet those facilities are running at lower capacity than before Trump took office — orders aren't actually driving the rebound.
- Virginia, home to the world's largest AI cluster, nearly doubled its coal generation in 2025; Pennsylvania and West Virginia also stepped up coal output to meet data-center demand.
- Consumers Energy's J.H. Campbell plant in Michigan — the first major facility Wright blocked from closing — generated less electricity in each of the last three quarters than in the equivalent prior-year quarter.
- Steve Piper of S&P Global Energy told the outlet coal generation may have 'a floor' in forecasts, and dislodging it from the grid will take 'something else.'
Why it matters: With the power sector responsible for roughly 25% of US emissions and previously on track to fall further as coal retired, a 4% emissions jump — with Virginia's coal generation nearly doubling to feed the world's largest AI cluster — directly stalls national climate targets. The fact that coal is rebounding because data centers need 24/7 power exposes a structural mismatch between AI growth and the clean-energy build-out pace.
