Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. - Today, the Sierra Club released its annual Dirty Truth Report, which grades 75 utilities across the country on their plans to retire coal plants by 2030, not build new gas plants through 2035, and transition to clean energy through 2035. This report shows that—despite their promises—utility companies are still overwhelmingly not planning for the clean energy transition and millions of Americans are facing the consequences of a grid powered by polluting fossil fuels. At the same time, electricity bills are increasing faster than inflation.
Faced with rapidly increasing load projections, utility companies are failing to meet this critical moment by championing renewable energy—instead, they are backsliding on their commitments and doubling down on fossil fuels. Across all 75 utilities, the companies scored an aggregate of 15 out of 100 points, earning an F. This marks the lowest score since the first year of this report in 2021, and the first time the score has ever dropped below the inaugural report.
Many utilities included in the report have made commitments to limit emissions, protect the environment, and provide the lowest-cost option to their customers, yet their energy plans reflect a dangerous, and expensive, trend that walks back the already-slow transition to clean energy and forces their customers to pay for more costly and deadly fossil fuels.
In an interactive webpage, users can see their utility’s score and what progress–if any–the utility has made toward transitioning to cleaner, more affordable energy since the first version of the report in 2021.
“It is alarming that for the first time since 2021, utilities are regressing on their clean energy transition,” said Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender. “By adding more gas and keeping costly coal plants online, utility companies are ignoring renewable energy—the cheapest form of energy—and forcing their customers to pay more. As energy costs rise and extreme weather becomes more frequent, now is the time to phase out polluting, volatile, expensive fossil fuels and invest in stable, reliable, and affordable, clean energy.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.