Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces Partnership With Powering Past Coal Alliance to Strengthen Global Efforts to Phase Out Coal

New initiative will support national, regional, and local governments working to reduce reliance on coal power
Apr 19, 2018 5:30 PM ET

Originally posted on bloomberg.org.

April 19, 2018 /3BL Media/ - On April 9, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Powering Past Coal Alliance announced a new partnership to develop research and case studies in support of national, regional, and local governments around the world who have committed to or are considering phasing out coal from their energy portfolios.

At the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit in New York City, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Bloomberg Philanthropies founder Michael R. Bloomberg joined the United Kingdom Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth Claire Perry, and Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna, to discuss the new partnership.

Coal-fired electricity generation is increasingly uneconomic as the costs of renewable energy continue to decline worldwide. A recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance study found that barely half of U.S. coal plants earned enough revenue last year to cover their operating expenses. Most of these plants remain viable only because they operate in regions where regulators set rates, keeping uneconomic plants open with subsidy payments. Worldwide, Bloomberg New Energy Finance has found that the levelized costs of electricity generated from solar and wind power continue to fall below the costs of coal plants across a growing roster of jurisdictions.

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