The Schiller coal-fired power station in Portsmouth, N.H. In recent years, it had run only intermittently during peak periods. Photo Credit: Gordon Chibroski/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Environment USAWaving Goodbye to the Dirtiest Energy Source in the Region
New England will become the second region in the United States to stop burning coal in favour of sustainable and renewable energy sources like wind and solar, with its last two power plants closing by 2025 and 2028.
“From our earliest days as owners and operators, we have been crystal clear: While our power occasionally is still on during New England’s warmest days and coldest nights, we were firmly committed to transitioning our facilities away from coal and into a newer, cleaner energy future,” states Jim Andrews, the chief executive of Granite Shore Power, owner of the plants.
In New Hampshire, the Schiller and Merrimack stations will stop burning coal by December 31st, 2025, and June 2028, respectively, and be converted into solar farms and battery units capable of storing the electricity generated from offshore wind turbines along the Atlantic Coast. As natural gas and renewable sources have become less expensive, coal use has dropped abruptly. For instance, coal produced about 17% of American electricity in 2023. The dirtiest fossil fuel accounted for 59% of carbon emissions from electricity in 2021 while generating less than a quarter of the electricity produced in the United States that year. The Pacific Northwest is the first region in the country to stop burning coal, with its last power plant to stop its operation by the end of 2025.
