Bow, New Hampshire -- Around 4:00pm on January 8th, 4 activists entered the property of the coal-fired Merrimack Generating Station, which was running at the time. Two scaled the inactive smokestack and dropped a banner reading "Shut It Down," while two locked themselves to the base of the stack. They remained there for over six hours, demanding that the plant's owners publicly commit to filing a delist bid when they participate in the upcoming auction determining which power plants will receive ratepayer funding to be on stand-by for the New England electric grid. At approximately 10:30pm they were arrested by the Bow police. They were released around 12:00am, and are expected in court on a later date. While the owners did not commit to delisting, this action sent a clear message to the owners of the plant: we will continue to take action until this plant is shut down for good.
"The vision I have for the future and the Merrimack generating station are incompatible," said Kai Parlett, a UNH student and No Coal No Gas activist. "So, I showed up today from a deep sense of urgency, fear, and desperation. In just one hour at full capacity the coal plant releases an equal quantity of emissions as the average person does in 26 years. Studies demonstrate that people are dying because of this power plant. How can I say I’m an active participant in building the world I want to see if I am not doing everything in my power to get this plant delisted and halt the harm it causes in Bow?"
This action was coordinated by No Coal No Gas, a multi-year campaign dedicated to building community, showing what's possible, and closing what is now the last coal-fired power plant in New England. In fall 2019, the campaign launched with actions removing coal from the plant to prevent it from being burned. Since then, activists have blocked coal trains from refueling the plant, organized a utility bill strike to protest fossil fuel forward capacity payments by regional grid operator ISO-New England, and filed an unprecedented number of ratepayer comments with FERC. In 2021, activists forced a summer shutdown with art installations and a rally of kayaks on the river, and planted gardens blocking the plant entrance this past October, resulting in 18 arrests. They also attempted to visit the main offices of Atlas Holdings LLC and Castleton Commodities LLC, the Connecticut-based private investors that jointly own Merrimack Station, but were refused a meeting.
“This action is the next step in our campaign escalation," explained Leif Taranta, No Coal No Gas campaign coordinator. "We are determined to do what must be done to prevent this plant from running, even if that means we have to shut it down ourselves. By our actions today, we sent a clear message that we are going to do everything we can to shut this coal plant down and pave the way for a better, more just future."
No Coal No Gas also has its eye on the ISO auction in February, when--unless the plant's owners file to delist it--the regional grid operator will decide whether to continue to fund Merrimack Generating Station into 2026.
"As an organization that claims to prioritize grid reliability, ISO-New England displays so much hypocrisy in stubbornly ignoring the threat that the Merrimack Generating Station and climate change itself pose to our region," said Isaac Petersen, an activist with the campaign, pointing to studies that name climate-fueled extreme weather events as the primary threat to grid reliability in the region."We need to rapidly make a just transition to a better future, and that means we can't stand by and allow the harms of coal to continue. It means shutting down this power plant."
No Coal No Gas activists have attempted to contact Granite Shore Power about delisting the coal plant and have thus far ignored calls.
For more information about the campaign to shut down the coal plant, go to nocoalnogas.org. More images and video of the action can be found @nocoalnogas on Facebook and Twitter.
