The Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH is the last coal-fired power plant in New England that doesn’t already have a shutdown date. Merrimack station only operates during peak electrical demand currently. This is still unacceptable in the 21st century.
When operating at full capacity, this coal plant generates as much carbon in one hour as 26 years of the total carbon emissions for an average American.
Merrimack Station also costs electrical customers and the town of Bow millions of dollars. The recent installation of scrubbers cost ratepayers $500 million and barely touched the plant's climate emissions. Eversource (the former owner of the coal plant) sued the Town of Bow over the generator’s tax valuation, and the state supreme court ordered the taxpayers of Bow to reimburse Eversource $10 million. Meanwhile, the health risks of breathing polluted air and environmental harms to the Merrimack river remain in Bow residents’ backyards.
After being forced to sell in 2018, Merrimack Station is now owned by a joint venture company called “Granite Shore Power, LLC” which is in turn owned by an investment firm based in Connecticut: Atlas Holdings. The station’s continued operation is supported by millions of dollars of subsidies that go to Granite Shore Power (called “Forward Capacity Payments”) from electricity rate payers across New England. Over188 million dollars were earmarked for subsidies to Bow between 2018 and 2023.
A Just Transition
When we shut this plant down, and prevent it from being converted to gas, there must be a future both for the workers and the site on the banks of the Merrimack River. A transition must:
Reutilize facilities to replace losses in the tax base.
Create jobs restoring the site and fund job-creating community economic development.
Ensure a just transition for workers.
Imagine what we could do by repurposing the millions in subsidies already earmarked for Bow. The $148 million allocated to Bow over a recent four-year period could buy over 397 megawatt hours of battery storage to shave off peak demand. Combined with cleaning up the site and installing solar panels rather than coal piles, Bow could be a clean energy hub!
Health Impacts of Coal
Coal pollutes the air, water, and environment in, around, and downstream of Merrimack Station. Click the button below to watch a four-part mini series about the health impacts of coal:
