A sudden surge in electricity demand from AI supercomputing—and the Trump administration’s rapid rollback of pollution safeguards—is prompting states and utilities to postpone coal-plant retirements, reversing years of progress on U.S. air quality.
For more than a decade, America’s coal-fired power plants were marching steadily toward retirement. That decline—driven by cheaper natural gas, stricter pollution rules, and the rapid rise of renewables—produced steep drops in toxic emissions and helped stabilize the nation’s carbon output.
A potent combination of skyrocketing electricity demand from artificial intelligence data centers and a wave of regulatory rollbacks from the Trump administration is injecting new life into some of the country’s most polluting infrastructure. The result: coal plants that were slated to close years ago are suddenly being kept online well into the 2030s, and in many cases allowed to release more mercury, soot, and climate-warming gases than before.
AI’s Electricity Appetite Reshapes the Grid
Generative AI—powered by massive clusters of servers—has triggered a historic surge in demand for industrial-scale electricity. Hyperscale data centers can consume the power of up to 50,000 homes, with dozens more now under construction from Northern Virginia to Georgia to the Pacific Northwest.
Utilities say the AI build-out has outpaced their ability to construct new natural-gas units, transmission lines, or grid-scale renewables. In the interim, they’re relying on the only assets that can deliver power now: their oldest fossil-fuel plants.
According to a Frontier Group analysis, more than 30 generating units at 15 coal plants have had their retirements delayed in the last two years, specifically to serve data-center demand. Three oil-burning plants have also postponed closures.
Dominion Energy’s Virginia Clover Power Station—scheduled for retirement this decade—will now run until 2045, an extraordinary 20-year extension. The shift reflects what regional grid operator PJM calls an 85% surge in projected electricity demand over the next 15 years across Data Center Alley.
Regulation Rollbacks Accelerate the Trend
- weakened mercury and soot pollution standards,
- delayed limits on carcinogenic wastewater discharges,
- scrapped or stalled rules regulating greenhouse gases, and
- granted pollution exemptions to nearly 70 coal plants.
EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch defended the rollback strategy, saying the administration is “bound by actual laws passed by Congress, not climate activists,” and arguing that older coal units are essential to “power America’s AI dominance.”
But public health researchers warn that loosening standards on already-aging coal plants comes with severe risks. A 2023 NIH-funded study found that two Georgia coal plants—Bowen and Scherer—contributed to more than 7,500 deaths over two decades. Both plants are now being kept online through at least 2039 to meet AI-driven demand.
The Health and Climate Cost of AI
AI’s carbon footprint is evolving into a significant new climate challenge. A 2024 University of California study estimates that training a single large language model can emit more pollution than 10,000 cross-country car trips.
By 2030, the air pollution associated with U.S. data-center electricity use could impose $20 billion in annual health costs, the researchers project—an estimate made before the latest regulatory rollbacks and coal-plant reversals.
Coal pollution is hazardous. It contains higher concentrations of toxic metals, delicate particulate matter, and carcinogens than emissions from gas or renewables. When the Biden administration finalized more stringent mercury rules last year, the EPA estimated those standards would prevent 1,000 pounds of mercury and 770 tons of particulate matter from being released by 2028.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has since moved to halt or rewrite the rules, arguing in a Fox News op-ed that “AI expansion requires America’s coal plants to remain in operation.”
Communities Feel the Impact — Again
For communities living near these plants, the sudden reversal has been jarring. Residents near Georgia’s Plant Scherer—one of the world’s most extensive coal facilities—say they had prepared for its closure after contamination from coal ash allegedly seeped into local wells.
“We thought this would be done by now, but it feels like we’re going back in time,” said Juliette resident Andrea Goolsby, who grew up under Scherer’s shadow. “Everyone should have to follow the rules—even AI.”
National Security Exception Raises Alarms
Environmental and health groups have filed legal challenges over the administration’s sweeping pollution exemptions. Several waivers invoke a never-before-used national security provision, which critics say stretches the statute beyond recognition.
“The administration’s use of this exemption jeopardizes public health without any proper basis,” the lawsuits argue.
The White House declined to comment.
A Turning Point for America’s Energy Future
The U.S. energy system now stands at a pivotal moment: either new transmission lines, gas capacity, and renewables come online fast enough to meet AI’s electricity appetite—or America’s reliance on coal could deepen for years.
For now, utilities, federal regulators, and AI developers remain aligned: keep the aging coal fleet running, even at higher pollution levels, until further notice.
“The breakneck construction of AI hubs has outpaced the energy transition,” said Quentin Good, policy analyst at Frontier Group. “These plants would not be burning coal today if not for AI.”
The nation’s 15-year decline in coal pollution—once a signature environmental achievement—may be slipping away.
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--By ‘TELL IT LIKE IT IS’ Energy & Environment Desk
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