The last coal plants in New England will close voluntarily after reaching an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Granite Shore Power, which operated the New Hampshire plants, said the closure of Schiller Station and Merrimack Station paves the way for a “renewable energy park.”
“From our earliest days as owners and operators, we have been crystal clear; while our power occasionally is still on during New England’s warmest days and coldest nights, we were firmly committed to transitioning our facilities away from coal and into a newer, cleaner energy future,” Jim Andrews, CEO of Granite Shore Power, said in a press release. “By pursuing and ultimately entering into this voluntary agreement with the U.S. EPA, we are keeping that commitment.”
Andrews thanked the EPA for its “leadership and partnership” during the six years of negotiation and said the company’s agreement with the federal agency focused on facts and a commitment to “shared objectives.”
Schiller Station will close in 2025. Merrimack Station, the last coal-fired power plant in New England, will stop operations in 2028.
Schiller will redevelop to be a part of the battery energy storage system “taking energy from the grid during low demand and putting it back on the grid during peak periods” — specifically for the energy accrued by wind power facilities currently being constructed off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and in the Gulf of Maine.
Granite Shore Power says Merrimack will be redeveloped into “a clean energy center for generations to come.”
“Developing on-demand generation resources has become more critical than ever to ensure electric reliability for New Englanders,” said the company. “With the continued support of state, federal and local leaders, the redevelopment of both Merrimack and Schiller will enhance the interconnection utilization at the facilities and advance the region’s overall generation mix.”
The company did not say how many employees would be impacted by the closures and redevelopments.
The two plants' closure resolves a lawsuit brought by the Conservation Law Foundation and the Sierra Club. The environmental organizations accused the plants of violating the Clean Water Act, reports The Hill.
The Sierra Club celebrated the announcement.
“In total, 560 megawatts of dirty power are set to go offline,” the advocacy group said in a statement. “After tireless advocacy work from local Sierra Club staff and volunteers, New Hampshire is the 16th coal-free state, the 12th to go coal-free since the Beyond Coal campaign launched in 2010. New England is the nation’s second entirely coal-free region, following the Pacific Northwest.”
The Biden administration pledged in December of 2023 to phase out coal power plants. While speaking at the United Nations climate change summit, Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced the U.S. was joining the Power Past Coal Alliance.
“We will be working to accelerate unabated coal phase-out across the world, building stronger economies and more resilient communities,” Kerry said, per The New York Post. “The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants.”
