overview:
The fight over Stanton 1 shows how America’s AI boom could perpetuate coal pollution, which has historically hit black communities hardest.
For decades, studies have shown that Black Americans are more likely than other groups to breathe in the pollution produced by coal-fired power plants, a burden measured by higher rates of asthma, heart disease, and other illnesses associated with dirty air.
Now, as the nation’s electricity demand soars to power artificial intelligence and massive data centers, the Trump administration is breathing new life into aging coal-fired power plants that many utilities had already planned to retire.
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One of them is Stanton 1, outside Orlando, where Earthjustice and its allies are challenging a federal order to keep the nearly 40-year-old plant open.
keep coal alive
While there is no evidence that Stanton itself disproportionately exposes Orlando’s black neighborhoods compared to surrounding communities, its continued operation reflects broader environmental justice realities. Extending the lifespan of coal means prolonging the health burden that Black Americans have borne disproportionately for generations.
When the Stanton Generating Station first opened in the 1980s, it and other coal-fired power plants generated more than half of the nation’s electricity. However, the Trump administration has postponed the retirement of Stanton Unit 1 and similar coal-burning facilities scheduled for retirement.
A 2012 NAACP report found that nearly 8 in 10 black Americans lived within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, compared to 56% of whites.
Critics say the White House is committed to keeping coal afloat despite the harm to black communities. Currently, coal is running out across the United States, with nearly 300 power plants closing between 2010 and 2019, and about 200 plants still providing just 15% of the nation’s electricity.
expensive energy source
The Trump administration’s Department of Energy issued an emergency order last month to keep Stanton 1 operating and burning coal.
Local environmental justice group Florida Rising is currently challenging the order with support from the Environmental Defense Fund, Sierra Club, and Earthjustice.
While the Trump administration has argued that Stanton 1 is essential to meeting local energy needs, the Environmental Coalition points out that the Orlando Public Utilities Commission has called coal-fired power plants the most expensive source of energy.
Stanton Unit 1, which will replace coal with solar power and natural gas after it is decommissioned, will cost $6.2 million a month to keep operating, adding an estimated $20 a month to consumers’ utility bills. At the same time, pollution from coal-fired power plants causes as many as 45 premature deaths each year.
“Florida Rising has been advancing energy justice across Florida, fighting excessive utility profits and calling for a just transition that puts frontline communities at the center of energy policy,” said Earthjustice Senior Attorney Bradlee Marshall in a statement.
“We already pay some of the highest electricity bills in the country because of our excess generation capacity,” he said. “So ordering OUC to keep this uneconomic plant open will only drive up OUC’s bills at a time when people are already struggling to pay their bills.”
just transition
Although the number of people living near coal-fired power plants is rapidly declining nationwide, Orlando, which is about 23% black, looks much like communities that once shared the air with these major polluters.
A landmark NAACP report released in 2012 found that while 56% of white Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, that number has jumped to nearly 8 in 10 black Americans. At that time, there were still 378 coal-fired power plants across the United States, providing more than 40% of the nation’s electricity.
Under the DOE order, Stanton 1 will remain operational for an additional 90 days after its scheduled retirement at the end of May. It may be renewed after the order expires. The Trump administration has issued a similar order, which Earthjustice and other groups representing Florida Rising argue is illegal, ordering five other coal-fired power plants to remain open.
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Still, there’s no denying that the writing is on the wall for coal.
“Forcing this coal-fired power plant to stay open would be a rate hike for Central Florida families and businesses already struggling with rising electricity rates,” Environmental Defense Fund attorney Adam Kurland said in a statement. “Cheaper, cleaner and more reliable options had made this coal-fired power plant obsolete and on track for retirement.”
