It’s official: Data centers are slowing America’s shift away from coal

A report from the Energy Information Administration found that carbon emissions from the U.S. power sector rose by 4% last year, driven in part by a 13% increase in coal power generation linked to the proliferation of large-scale data centers. The rise in emissions reverses a decades-long decline, as data centers consume more electricity and extend the life of aging coal plants, slowing the transition to cleaner energy sources.