One of "Dirty Dozen" power plants to close
Brayton Point is second biggest carbon polluter in the state
Brayton Point Power Plant, subject of recent protests, to close by May 2017.
Brayton Point coal-fired power plant to close in 2017
News sends nearby communities "reeling"
Excorriated as one of New England's "Dirty Dozens" and the subject of endless protests by environmentalists, the coal-fired Brayton Point Power Plant will be shut down in 2017 as not longer economically viable due to lower natural gas prices.
The Cape is directly downwind of the coal burning Brayton Point power plant in Somerset, MA (next to Fall River) which is the second-most polluting power plant in New England. The biggest Massachusetts carbon-polluting power plant is the Mystic Generating Station followed by Brayton Point.
Cape Cod is downwind from one of the "Dirty Dozen" causes
Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health published a study finding that facility was responsible each year for:
- 106 premature deaths
- 1,140 emergency room visits
- 28,900 asthma attacks and
- 199,000 daily incidents of upper respiratory symptoms
Brayton Point is today a seldom-used and recently sold coal-fired power plant just over the Fall River in Somerset. It's closure as of May 2017 came as a great surprise to lawmakers.
“The town is reeling. There’s no other way to say it. We’re reeling,” said Rep. Patricia Haddad, a Somerset Democrat, who said the town lacks space for commercial development and has yet to come to an agreement on the taxes the plant’s new owner would pay. She said, “In order to replace that kind of tax base we’d need about 20 big box stores.”
One of three remaining coal-fired power plants in Massachusetts
One of three remaining coal plants in the state, Brayton Point was unable to keep up with the cheaply fueled natural gas plants, its new owner EquiPower said in a statement. Electric grid overseers on Monday notified its reliability committee that Brayton Point had submitted a retirement request.
The plant is located on a 306-acre parcel and its previous owner, Dominion, estimated $1.1 billion in improvements have been made at the plant since 2005. Dominion described Brayton point as “one of New England's largest fossil-fueled generating facilities,” with four generating units capable of producing enough electricity to power about 1.5 million homes.
The planned closure was cause for some consternation by Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy House Chairman John Keenan, a Salem Democrat, who was able to secure passage of a law providing for a natural gas plant to redevelop a soon-to-shutter coal plant in his city.
“I think we all have to hasten our efforts to figure out what this is going to all mean, not only for the reliability of the grid, but most importantly for those communities impacted in terms of their property taxes,” Keenan told the News Service. He said, “Worst case scenario, how do you clean up the site? Absolute worst case scenario.”
Keenan said Salem was able to conduct a study about three or four years ago to determine the best use for the Salem Harbor plant, which determined a new power plant would be the best usage for the site.
Last year’s energy law created a task force to look at Mount Tom in Holyoke and Brayton Point, the only two remaining coal plants, and Keenan said that group would likely meet next near the power plant on Mount Hope Bay.
Brayton Point only operates when power demands are greatest, according to grid-operator ISO-New England.
“We understand the impacts that this decision to retire Brayton Point Station will have on the employees of Brayton Point, local community and other stakeholders and we will work to mitigate those impacts to the extent possible” said Brayton Point Energy CEO Curt Morgan, in a statement.
“We regret that we were not able to obtain approval from ISO New England to participate in the ISO New England Forward Capacity Market at price levels that would allow Brayton Point to remain viable.”
Subject of recent protests
Environment Massachusetts released a report in September that listed Brayton Point as the second biggest carbon polluter in the state, and protestors demanding its closure and the construction of Cape Wind marched from Fall River to Cape Cod this summer.
Keenan said he did not see an environmental “silver lining” to the news of the closure, and Haddad said environmentalists’ assertions that the property can be redeveloped with little economic impact makes her “wonder what world they’re living in.”
The coal plant, which employs 240 workers, was not able to meet the prices in ISO New England’s futures market, the company said. ISO New England did not respond to a request for comment.
Hartford, Connecticut-based EquiPower purchased the plant from major energy supplier Dominion this summer, closing the deal on Aug. 31, according to company officials.
EquiPower officials declined to stray beyond a statement, and did not say whether the company purchased the plant with the understanding it would shut down in less than four years.
The news was a surprise to Haddad, who said she wants to gather more information and explore alternatives.
“I can’t give up yet,” Haddad told the News Service. She said, “We really need to fight to keep something there.”
The plant is across the water from Fall River, in an area ISO New England has highlighted as in need of more power supply.
“The new company hasn’t finalized a tax treaty with the town,” Haddad said. She said, “What about the 1,500 megawatts? . . . ISO says they don’t need them. I hope they’re absolutely sure.”
Keenan said the power plant had recently added new cooling towers.
The end of coal power in Massachusetts
Brayton Point is one of the biggest polluters for all of New England
The end of coal power in Massachusetts
By Sylvia Broude, Executive Director,Toxics Action Center.
Yesterday, the new owners of the Brayton Point power plant, New England's largest coal-fired power plant, notified ISO-New England, the operator of the New England electricity grid, that they are closing down in 2017. Sold to Energy Capital Partners, a New Jersey-based energy investment company, barely one month ago, and only a year after completing a $1 billion upgrade of the plant to install pollution controls, Brayton Point Energy, LLC filed a “Non-Price Retirement Request” indicating that the plant will be retired by no later than June 2017.
This is big news for local residents who have been working for years for cleaner air and a healthier environment for Somerset and the rest of Southeastern Massachusetts. Brayton Point is one of the biggest polluters for all of New England. According to the U.S. EPA in 2008, Brayton Point emitted more than 37,000 tons of toxic chemicals into the air Studies show this pollution doesn’t only affect Somerset: the majority spreads and settles in cities and towns across a 30-mile radius from the power plant. Mercury has always been a major concern because it is a neurotoxin, with no safe levels of exposure, and in 2010, Brayton Point was responsible for nearly half of all mercury emissions for the state of Massachusetts.
But Brayton Point hasn’t been the only source of pollution for Southeastern Massachusetts: for more than 50 years, Somerset hosted two coal-burning power plants, including a power plant called Somerset Station LLC that operated for much of the 20th century and closed its doors in 2010. With an economy based around coal power generation, Somerset needs all the help it can get to work towards a new, healthier and thriving economy. Now the real fight begins in transitioning this former coal community towards a 21st century innovation economy.
Toxics Action Center, Clean Water Action, and other members of Coal Free Massachusetts, has organized side by side with local community group Coalition for Clean Air South Coast for years to plan ahead for a transition away from coal at Brayton Point. The community made it clear that they wanted a healthier economy for Somerset, and the new owner listened. We hope Energy Capital Partners will join local residents at the table to discuss cleanup and reuse and negotiate a transition plan with power plant workers. Somerset can be a model for other coal communities in New England to shift away from archaic dirty energy and towards clean industry, renewable energy, and the innovation economy.
We hope Energy Capital Partners will take responsibility for decommissioning and cleanup when Brayton Point closes, and work with local and state leaders to attract new development. We’ve seen communities across the country successfully redevelop coal plant sites, and we need to make that vision a reality here. Because Somerset and other coal host communities deserve to remain whole.
Sylvia Broude, Executive Director,
Toxics Action Center - A New England-wide public health and environmental non-profit that organizes with communities to clean up and prevent pollution
http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/10/08/22088-end-coal-power-massachusetts
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