Soaring solar and a surge in hydro push more coal off the US grid

Last year, the first few months of data from the US grid suggested that fears of a data-center-driven surge in demand were becoming a reality. Demand had risen by about 3 percent, triggering a surge in coal , interrupting what had been a long downward trend. But over the course of the year, both trends slowed considerably . A year later, all of that seems to be in the past, as the US has returned to its normal pattern: slow growth, with renewables pushing coal off the grid. …