As the Trump administration goes all-in with efforts to reinvigorate the nation’s use of coal, the owners of the region’s last coal-fired power plant say they still plan to eventually replace the Bow facility with solar panels and batteries.
In a statement released Thursday, the company said that Trump’s latest move to exempt Merrimack Station and scores of other coal-fired plants from regulation of toxins in their emissions “does not alter Granite Shore Power’s plans to responsibly transition from coal power at Merrimack Station.”
On Wednesday, it was announced that the EPA had granted 70 coal-fired power plants, including Bow’s, a two-year exemption from federal requirements to reduce emissions of toxic chemicals such as mercury, arsenic and benzene.
Merrimack Station has an obligation though this year to provide electricity during peak usage periods this year as part of an annual program designed to guarantee electricity needs. However, its bid into what is known as the forward capacity auction have not been accepted for later years, so that obligation will end in 2027. It’s unclear whether the plant would continue without the extra payments from the forward capacity program, since coal-fired power is relatively expensive to produce.
Granite Shore Power has said it wants to build solar farms and battery packs at Merrimack Station in Bow after the plant closes, using the site’s connection to the power grid to be part of the energy transition. Merrimack Station is the last coal-fired power plant in New England.
Thursday’s statement from Granite Shore Power said Trump’s move this week exempting plants from Biden-era pollution rules placed under the Clean Air Act does not change Merrimack Station’scompliance with emission standards because the Environmental Protection Agency already provided leeway for plants that had firm plans to shut. The leeway is designed “to avoid unreasonable capital expense to comply during that short period before closure.”
“We continue to advance our previously announced plans for a new future for Merrimack and Schiller stations and look forward to obtaining the necessary support from leaders and stakeholders throughout New England, to make those projects a reality,” the statement said.
In 2018 Granite Shore Power bought Merrimack Station in Bow and Schiller Station, a smaller coal-fired plant on the banks of the Picataqua River in Portsmouth, from Eversource. Their plans call for the Schiller plant, which has been shut for a half-dozen years, to be replaced by the state’s biggest battery array to help stabilize the grid and maximize benefits from renewable energy, while Bow’s transition to solar and batteries to happen afterwards.
Aside from its valuable grid connection, Schiller is also valuable as a port with direct access to the sea. Granite Shore President Jim Andrews has touted this as an asset for supporting the offshore-wind industry – but that was before the Trump administration stepped in to halt that industry’s growth, leaving the country’s use of offshore wind in limbo even as the use grows rapidly throughout the world.
In other moves to support coal Trump has signed a series of executive orders allowed some older coal-fired power plants that were set for retirement to keep producing electricity. He also directed federal agencies to identify coal resources on federal lands, lift barriers to coal mining and prioritize coal leasing on U.S. lands.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Return to the Concord Monitor