Data source: EIA, Preliminary Monthly Electric Generator Inventory, December 2022

Operators plan to retire 15.6 GW of electric-generating capacity in the United States during 2023, mostly natural gas-fired (6.2 GW) and coal-fired (8.9 GW) power plants, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).

EIA said that substantial U.S. coal-fired capacity has retired over the past decade, and a record 14.9 GW was retired in 2015.

Annual coal retirements averaged 11.0 GW a year from 2015 to 2020, fell to 5.6 GW in 2021, and then rose to 11.5 GW in 2022.

In 2023, power plant owners and operators plan to retire 8.9 GW of coal-fired capacity, around 4.5% of the total coal-fired capacity at the start of the year.

Most coal-fired power plants currently operating were built in the 1970s and 1980s. As these plants compete with a growing number of natural gas-fired plants and low-cost renewables, more coal-fired units are being retired.