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Put Peakers in the Past
Updates from the Front!
While Cogentrix, owners of the now shuttered Doreen, Woodland Road and West Springfield peaker plants, continue to move toward final approvals for transitioning the West Springfield plant to battery storage and renewables, we’re still continuing talks with Hull Street Energy.
Hull Street Energy are the owners of Pittsfield Generating, the large power plant whose three tall smokestacks dominate the center of the city of Pittsfield. Talks have been polite and cooperative, but so far circumstances around their location and type of connection to the grid have made finding a feasible path to transitioning difficult.
All through this process, we’ve found out more and more details about how the electric utilities and the ISO New England energy grid market complicate, disincentivize and sometimes block the way to making a transition from fossil fuel peak load electric generation to storage and renewables a feasible venture for power plant owners. While the profit margin and level of risk tolerance of the power plant owners should never trump the greater good for public health and the climate, making it easier for power producers to make the switch to zero emissions alternatives, instead of just shutting down, helps ease the transition, preserves reliability of the grid, and preserves tax revenues to municipalities that are often in need of that funding.
These complications in the transition process have brought us into communication with state officials and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to push for systemic change. This interaction on the regulatory front as well is now an increasing part of the campaign. It’s important to change the system that keeps burning fossil fuels as the easiest choice for power producers, so that future campaigns to push other peakers across the state toward clean alternatives can go more smoothly.
The strength behind our arguments in these talks is YOU.
Voicing support for a move away from reliance on fossil fuels and toward climate-friendly alternatives, and the health and wellbeing of the Environmental Justice neighborhoods where most of these peaker plants are located is one of the most impactful ways you can add more strength to our voice.
If you haven’t already, please sign on to our Berkshire County Put Peakers in the Past petition.
If you’re an organization or business that supports our goals, please consider joining the Put Peakers in the Past coalition, no matter where you are.
If you’re a health care professional in Berkshire County, please sign our Health Professionals Statement. If you’re a member of a Board of Health, or would like your local Board of Health to sign, please have them do so!
We’ve also forged a new coalition to fight peaker power plants statewide, the Mass Clean Peak Coalition. Keep an eye out for new statewide petitions and similar outreach as this broader campaign ramps up!
Thanks again for your voice in this campaign.
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