In the end, it's mostly about dollars and dense. Most coal plants are operated by large companies including Georgia Power, Duke Energy, AEP, etc. who have larg

In the end, it's mostly about dollars and dense. Most coal plants are operated by large companies including Georgia Power, Duke Energy, AEP, etc. who have large coffers to fund lobbying effort to influence the public and regulators. They are mostly located in middle America and provide well paying jobs for the locals. Even though no new coal plants are going up, they've made large capital investment building these plants in 70s and 80s, and they want to maximize the returns as long as possible, right up until the lifespan which is around 50 years. So they're doing the minimum necessary to appease and avoid raising the ire of regulatory bodies and general public.