Closing the Door on Building New Coal-Fired Power Plants in America Earth Policy Institute, by Jonathan G. Dorn, March 31, 2009 http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2009/Update81.htm Since the beginning of 2007, 95 proposed coal-fired power plants have been cancelled or postponed in the United States—59 in 22007, 24 in 2008, and at least 12 in the first three months of 2009. This covers nearly half of the 200 or so U.S. coal-fired power plants that have been proposed for construction since 2000. The vast majority of the remaining proposals are essentially on hold. While only five new coal plants, totaling 1,400 megawatts, began operation in 2008, more than 100 wind farms capable of generating 8,400 megawatts came online. Simply using electricity more efficiently could reap large energy gains. A recent study by the Rocky Mountain Institute found that if the 40 least energy-efficient states raised their electric productivity—the dollars of gross domestic product geenerated per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed—to the average leevel of the 10 most efficient states, 62 percent of coal-fired power generation in the United States could be shut down—roughly 370 coal plants.