New England Closes its Last Coal Plants, Energy Instability Sure to Ensue

New England Closes its Last Coal Plants, Energy Instability Sure to Ensue

April 10, 2024

Late last month, New Hampshire power provider, Granite Shore Power, announced that it would be closing its Schiller Station in 2025 and its Merrimack Station in 2028. This move comes after years of protest from environmental activist organizations despite energy experts’ warnings. 

As Fox News reported,

Together, the two facilities, which were first constructed roughly six decades ago, have a capacity of 560 megawatts, enough to power hundreds of thousands of homes.”

Hundreds of thousands of homes will now be completely reliant on intermittent energy sources that depend on specific weather conditions to be effective. Coal provided a reliable source of energy for New Englanders throughout the entire year, including during harsh winters.

“ISO-New England, the region’s independent grid operator, states on its website that coal is a critical tool in ensuring power “on the coldest winter days when natural gas supply is constrained.” It adds that inadequate infrastructure to transport natural gas — a major power source in New England — harms natural-gas-fired plants’ ability to get the fuel they need to perform, creating an “energy-security risk.”’

When the eco-left gambles on unreliable energy infrastructure, Americans will pay the price.