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What happened to the 151 proposed coal plants?

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This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy.

Beginning around the year 2000, in response to increases in natural gas prices, utilities across the United States began a renewed push to build new coal-fired electricity generating plants and coal-fueld synthetic fuels plants. The National Energy Technology Laboratory, a division of the Department of Energy, issues periodic updates of "Tracking New Coal-Fired Power Plants," a database of such projects, but that report ceased providing project-specific information after May 2007. The May 2007 list, which showed 151 proposed coal plants, received widespread publicity and helped galvanize the movement for a coal moratorium.[1] As of August 2009, the status of the plants shown on the list was as follows:[2]

  • Cancelled, abandoned, or on hold: 90 projects;
  • Early stages of development: 8 projects;
  • Advanced stages of development: 12 projects;
  • In operation or under construction: 41 projects.

In addition to the 151 proposed coal plants listed in the May 2007 NETL report, over 75 additional coal projects have been identified by the Sierra Club, which maintains the "Stopping the Coal Rush" database. As of December 19, 2009, the list included 228 projects:[3]

  • Active: 51 projects;
  • Upcoming: 11 projects;
  • Status uncertain: 31 projects;
  • Cancelled: 112 projects;
  • Progressing: 24 projects.

Information on proposed coal plants outside the United States can be found at Proposed coal plants (international).

The following is the status in November 2009 of the 151 proposed coal plants listed by the May 2007 NETL report:

Contents

Cancelled, Abandoned, or on Hold

Early Development

Advanced Development

Operating or in Construction


Resources

References

  1. ↑ Ted Nace, Stopping Coal in Its Tracks, Orion Magazine, January/February 2008.
  2. ↑ Proposed Coal Plants Table, Coal Moratorium Now!
  3. ↑ ["Stopping the Coal Rush," Sierra Club coal tracking database, accessed November 30, 2009.

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