beyond-coal

EPA To Delay Cleanups of Georgia’s Toxic Coal Ash Landfills

ATLANTA - Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will side with the coal industry over our communities and delay the required cleanup of toxic coal ash landfills until 2030.

PSC Approves Georgia Power’s Dangerously Short-Sighted IRP

ATLANTA - Today, the Georgia Public Service Commission voted to approve Georgia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan, locking Georgia into a future of toxic coal and gas plants and overburdened ratepayers.

Georgia PSC Vote Keeps Public in the Dark about Energy Rates

ATLANTA - Details on the costs incurred by Georgia Power to serve large load customers, namely data centers, will remain secret until 2028 following a vote Tuesday by the Public Service Commission (PSC). The commission voted unanimously in favor of a settlement agreement, referred to as the Stipulated Agreement, that doesn’t require the utility company to prove that data centers would result in lower rates for all customers or how the costs of bringing these facilities online will be socialized among existing billpayers. 

Georgia Power Hides Behind Smoke and Mirrors in Energy Hearings

ATLANTA - After another week of hearings on Georgia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) and its rate case settlement proposal, Georgia residents are still left in the dark about the company’s plans to build fossil fuel plants, and worry about the future of their energy bills.

Advocates Celebrate Accelerated Retirement Of Deadly Coronado Coal Plant

ARIZONA — On Tuesday, after years of community advocacy and activism, the Arizona utility Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) announced an accelerated end to coal-fired operations at its Coronado plant in 2029, instead of the previously planned retirement in 2032. Moving away from coal operations will save tens of millions of dollars and reduce dangerous air pollution. 

Testimony Challenges Georgia Power’s Secretive Rate Case Process

ATLANTA - Today, the Sierra Club, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and the Natural Resources Defense Council submitted testimony in the Georgia Power rate case proceedings challenging the lack of transparency and procedural safeguards.

Trump Administration Formally Proposes Repeal of Bedrock Greenhouse Gas Standards, Sells Out Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa — Today, the Trump Administration issued a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency to repeal the agency’s Clean Air Act Section 111 carbon pollution standards, which limit climate-disrupting greenhouse gas emissions from gas- and coal-fired power plants.

Trump Uses Sham “Energy Emergency” to Keep Coal Plants Open

West Olive, MI - Today, the Trump Administration invoked its so-called “energy emergency” to force the J.H. Campbell coal plant to remain open past its planned retirement. 

New Sierra Club Dashboard Calculates Georgia Toll of Trump EPA Rollbacks

ATLANTA, GA - Today, the Sierra Club unveiled a new interactive tool that shows the environmental toll of the Trump Administration’s planned rollbacks of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safeguards on coal pollution in Georgia. 

Trump Hands Out Free Pass for Big Coal, Georgians Pay the Price

ATLANTA -– Today, the Trump Administration gave permission to two Georgia coal-fired power plants to ignore common-sense safeguards that curb emissions of mercury and air toxics and protect Americans from the deadly health effects of coal pollution.

Georgia Power Must Address Coal Plants Amidst Trump’s Executive Orders

ATLANTA (April 10, 2025) – On April 8, President Donald Trump signed executive orders in an attempt to bolster coal production in the United States.

Sierra Club Condemns Georgia Power’s Plan to Cap-In-Place Coal Ash at Plant McDonough

ATLANTA — Last week, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) published a draft permit to “cap-in-place” the coal ash ponds at Plant McDonough in Smyrna, a plan that will put the health of millions of Georgians in jeopardy.