Breaking New England’s Coal Addiction
On paper, coal looks like one of the cheapest ways to produce electricity. But the heavy costs to the health of our families, businesses, and New England’s environment were too big to justify.
CLF in Action
CLF challenged coal plants across New England for violating environmental regulations and harming public health. We showed that these outdated plants made people sick and stood in the way of progress towards clean energy.
CLF worked with local communities, decision makers, and the regional electric grid operator to pursue alternatives that would allow for a swift and responsible phase out of coal. Our advocacy paid off: By 2017, Massachusetts’ “filthy five” coal plants were shut down for good – including New England’s biggest coal plant, Brayton Point Station in Somerset, Massachusetts.
In 2024, Granite Shore Power agreed to shutter the region’s last two coal plants. New Hampshire’s Merrimack Station will close by June 1, 2028, and Schiller Station will close by December 31, 2025. New England is now the country’s second entirely coal-free region.
What’s Next
In New England, emissions from coal-fired power plants once made up an outsized share of the climate-damaging pollution that contributed to global warming. Our communities, our climate, and our economy simply couldn’t afford to keep coal in business in New England – which is why we’re celebrating shutting it down.
But our fight is far from over. Now, we need to move off all fossil fuels, including natural gas. We also need to ensure the energy sources we depend on are actually renewable, not the fossil fuel industry’s greenwashed attempt at maintaining the status quo. Their alternative fuels include so-called “renewable” natural gas and other biofuels – all of which still pollute the climate, the environment, and our air. CLF will fight to ensure that we will achieve our clean energy future with real and effective solutions, like solar and wind.
