Christine Ho, christine.ho@sierraclub.org
Washington, D.C. - Today, Sierra Club released its sixth Dirty Truth Report. This year, the utilities scored a staggering seven out of 100 in aggregate; this is the lowest score since the first report in 2021 and eight points lower than last year’s Dirty Truth score. The report grades utilities across the country based on how much coal they are retiring, how much gas they are planning, and how much renewable energy they are adding.
Across the 76 utilities companies graded, the Dirty Truth Report shows that:
- Utility companies across the U.S. are still overwhelmingly stalling on the clean energy transition.
- Utilities are only committed to retiring 25 percent of their coal generation by 2030.
- Utilities are only building enough clean energy to replace 25 percent of their fossil fuel generation and expected load growth by 2035.
- Utilities are planning to build 140 GW of new gas by 2035, more than any previous year.
The Dirty Truth Report shows that rather than meeting data center demand with affordable and clean renewable energy, utilities are backsliding on climate commitments and doubling down on dangerous, expensive fossil fuels. This means higher bills for families, more dangerous pollution, and less reliable energy.
Despite roadblocks from the Trump administration—who have made their favoritism towards the toxic and expensive fossil fuel industry evident—renewable energy remains the cheapest way to generate electricity.
The full report is available on the Dirty Truth website or here.
In response, Sierra Club Chief Program Officer Holly Bender issued the following statement:
“The Dirty Truth report has once again revealed utilities’ overwhelming failure to plan a phase-out of their expensive and dirty fossil fuel infrastructure, and transition to clean energy. Every year that utilities drag their feet on the clean energy transition is another year where families pay record bills for expensive fossil fuels, another year of extreme weather events, and another year of air and water pollution threatening our health.
“We cannot afford to wait any longer to bring our grid into the 21st century. As artificial intelligence data centers drive demand for energy, utility companies are rushing to expensive and dangerous fossil fuels, leading to soaring electricity prices and worsening air pollution. The time is now for these companies to transition to affordable, reliable, clean energy to build a healthier and more sustainable energy future. The Sierra Club will continue to push utilities to deploy more renewable energy and work to lower costs and emissions.”
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.