<p>Impact loading is one of the key inducing factors of rock bursts, and the occurrence of impact is accompanied by physical signals such as acoustic emission and microcurrent, whose responses and energy variations can reflect the disaster-evolution process. However, under impact loading, the synergistic response patterns of acousto-electric signals in coal remain insufficiently understood and the characteristics of energy dissipation are still unclear, which constrains the further development of acousto-electric fusion techniques for high-precision spatiotemporal monitoring and early warning of rock bursts. To investigate the acousto-electric response and energy dissipation behavior of coal under impact loading, we conducted drop-weight (falling-ball) tests, and microcurrent and AE were synchronously monitored at multiple offsets from the impact point. The acousto-electric response characteristics were analyzed, an impact energy conversion and dissipation model was established, and the dissipation mechanism was examined. The results show that impact instantaneously excites pronounced microcurrent and AE signals with consistent responses: both microcurrent intensity and AE counts peak at the impact instant, and the microcurrent peak increases exponentially with impact energy; thereafter, the microcurrent decays, with amplitude exhibiting exponential attenuation with propagation distance. In addition, impact energy is dissipated in the forms of AE energy and electrical energy. The proposed model quantifies the dissipation proportions and captures the dissipation process well: both energies decay exponentially with distance; as impact energy increases, the microcurrent energy conversion ratio first rises and then falls, whereas the AE energy conversion ratio decreases exponentially. The dissipation coefficients of both energies follow quadratic relations with impact energy. When the dissipation coefficient is positively correlated with impact energy, crack compaction reduces propagation channels and accelerates attenuation, corresponding to the compaction and elastic stages; when it is negatively correlated, primary cracks begin to extend and new cracks nucleate, facilitating propagation and lowering the dissipation coefficient, corresponding to the plastic stage. Both the energy conversion ratio and the dissipation coefficient can thus serve as quantitative indicators of the onset of plastic deformation, providing a theoretical basis for acousto-electric cooperative monitoring of rockbursts.</p>