COAL COST CROSSOVER 2.0

The report finds that a vast majority of U.S. coal capacity is now more expensive to operate than building new wind or solar power. As of 2020, 72% of coal capacity (166 GW) was deemed uneconomic or slated for retirement by 2025. The authors argue that this 'cost crossover' is accelerating due to rapid declines in renewable costs and falling coal capacity factors. The document recommends that policymakers implement all-source competitive procurement and coal asset securitization to transition to cleaner, cheaper energy portfolios while managing the financial risks of early plant retirement.

• As of 2020, 72 percent of existing U.S. coal capacity, totaling 166 GW, was either uneconomic compared to local wind or solar resources or scheduled for retirement within five years.
• The number of individual coal plants that are uneconomic or already retiring represents 80 percent of the U.S. coal fleet, totaling 182 out of 235 plants.
• The trend of coal becoming uneconomic is accelerating; a 2018 analysis found 62 percent of capacity was uneconomic, and the projected 77 percent threshold for 2025 was nearly reached by 2020.
• The U.S. coal fleet generates significant annual pollution, including over 1 billion tons of CO2, 677,253 tons of NOx, and 937,012 tons of SO2.
• When incorporating external costs—such as public health and climate damages—which range from $30 to $146 per MWh, no coal plant in the U.S. fleet remains economic.
• Several market failures prevent the retirement of uneconomic coal, including captured regulators, monopoly utility protections, unpaid capital account balances, and insufficient transmission build-out.

APA

Gimon, E., Myers, A., & O’Boyle, M. (2021). COAL COST CROSSOVER 2.0. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Coal-Cost-Crossover-2.0.pdf

Chicago

Gimon, Eric, Amanda Myers, and Mike O’Boyle. COAL COST CROSSOVER 2.0. Energy Innovation, 2021. https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Coal-Cost-Crossover-2.0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gimon |first1=Eric |last2=Myers |first2=Amanda |last3=O’Boyle |first3=Mike |title=COAL COST CROSSOVER 2.0 |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=May 2021 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Coal-Cost-Crossover-2.0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gimon2021coal, author = {Gimon, Eric and Myers, Amanda and O’Boyle, Mike}, title = {{COAL COST CROSSOVER 2.0}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2021}, month = may, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/Coal-Cost-Crossover-2.0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }