End in sight for New England's largest coal plant

New England's largest coal-fired power plant will close by May 2017, according to its owner.  The Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset, Massachusetts, consists of three coal-fired units and a unit capable of burning natural gas and oil, with a net generating capacity of 1,537.6 megawatts.  Within 4 years, it will follow other large New England coal-fired power plants like Salem Harbor Power Station into history.

The Salem Harbor Power Station in Salem, Massachusetts, scheduled to close in May 2014.

The forces leading to Brayton Point's closure have been gathering for years.  The U.S. energy industry is in the midst of a revolution led by affordable and abundant natural gas supplies.  Meanwhile, tighter environmental regulations on air emissions from coal-fired power plants have made these traditionally cheap generators more and more expensive to run.  This past March, Brayton Point's previous owner Dominion Resources Inc. announced plans to sell the plant and two other fossil-fired plants to a subsidiary of Energy Capital Partners LLC.  That deal was consummated in August.

In an effort to keep the plant economic, Energy Capital Partners reportedly worked with regional electricity grid operator ISO New England Inc. on an agreement under which Brayton Point would have been paid for its ability to be called upon to provide electric generating capacity when needed.  But when Brayton Point demanded a higher price for this capacity than ISO New England was willing to offer, the generator submitted papers indicating that it would not provide capacity for the 2017-2018 forward capacity year.

Without those capacity market revenues, Brayton Point's owners have said it will close by May 2017, according to AP reports.  If it does, it will follow Salem Harbor and other coal-fired power plants around the country which have either closed or been converted to natural gas.  What will the future hold for Brayton Point's site in Somerset?  With transmission lines already in place, will it be redeveloped with other energy infrastructure?  What environmental issues will closure or repowering entail?

May 3, 2011 - renewable energy versus wildlife?

Renewable energy is touted as helping the environment -- but project development can be halted due to concerns about wildlife impacts.  In today's news, a 39-turbine wind project in Maine has withdrawn a key state land use application due to agency concerns over the project's impacts on wildlife.

Highland Wind LLC had proposed a 117 megawatt wind energy development to be located on Stewart Mountain, Witham Mountain, Bald Mountain, Briggs Hill, and Burnt Hill in Highland Plantation and Pleasant Ridge Plantation, Somerset County.  As initially conceived, the project would consist of approximately 39 wind turbines, plus access roads, interconnection facilities including a 34.5 kV collector line, substation, and 115 kV transmission line, and an associated outbuilding.

Two weeks ago, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife issued findings that the project could impact habitat for threatened and endangered species including the northern bog lemming and the Roaring Brook mayfly.  Now, Highland Wind has withdrawn its application to allow it time to evaluate these impacts.

This isn't the first renewable project to be halted due to wildlife concerns.  Last week, BrightSource Energy put the development of phases 2 and 3 of its 392 megawatt Ivanpah solar project on hold due to impacts on the endangered desert tortoise.

October 12, 2010 - New England sets record energy use; wind

What do you think sits at the end of this rainbow, seen Friday over the New Meadows River?

New England's regional electric grid operator ISO-NE has announced that the region has set several new records for energy consumption. In July 2010, consumers used 13,385 gigawatt-hours. That just barely beat the previous single-month energy usage of 13,365 GWh, which occurred in July 2006. To explain this high energy usage despite the economic downturn ISO-NE points to the weather: July 2010 was the second-hottest July in New England since 1960. New England also set new heights for peak demand (capacity measured in gigawatts, not energy measured in gigawatt-hours) in May and September 2010.

In wind news: this weekend, while Highland Wind LLC held an open house to promote its wind project in Highland Plantation in Somerset County, Maine, the Friends of the Highland Mountains and other protesters demonstrated their opposition. As originally conceived, the Highland project - backed by former independent Maine Governor Angus King - would entail 48 turbines along the ridgelines of Stewart, Witham and Bald Mountains, plus Briggs and Burnt Hills. The land in question is owned by Bayroot LLC, and has been managed by Wagner Forest Management. Among the protesters' complaints is the proximity of the project to the Bigelow Mountains and the Appalachian Trail.


Google has already made the news for its involvement in energy markets. Now Google is investing in the underwater transmission lines needed to transmit power from offshore wind turbines to the mainland. Specifically, Google is eyeing a 350-mile line from Virginia to New Jersey.