No Coal No Gas
End the Use of Fossil Fuels in New England
We shut down the last coal-fired power plant in New England!
Our grassroots resistance to coal alongside regulatory and legal battles forced Granite Shore Power to choose a clean energy future for the site of their two formerly coal-fired facilities in New England: in Bow and Portsmouth. The coal plant in Bow ceased operations for good in September 2025.
We’ve named a new goal to replace the one we just achieved: shut down ALL the fossil-fuel-fired power plants that run occasionally (the peaker plants) in New England. These fossil-fueled power plants only turn on when a very high amount of electricity is being used — peak demand. Wildly inefficient and expensive, yet mostly small and inactive, peakers give us extra-high pollution rates at extra-high costs. And when they’re doing absolutely nothing, we still pay them millions of dollars in subsidies from our electric bills. We have way better options than these peakers. Electricity costs are rising. More and more people have to decide between life-sustaining heat and cooling in their homes, rent, food, or doctors visits. The climate crisis is threatening our communities around the globe. We have to change this.
Our Campaign
We are No Coal No Gas. We shut down the last coal plant in New England. Now, we are going to take on the fossil fuel peaker plants. A peaker plant typically only runs at the times of highest demand for energy - the hottest and coldest days of the year. Peakers in New England are some of the dirtiest, least efficient, and most expensive energy sources. The forward capacity market (the same system that sent millions of dollars to the coal plant in Bow) promised $350 million to fossil fuel peaker plants in their 2024 auction. About 60 oil and gas powered fossil-fuel peaker plants are scattered across New England.
We have clean, cost-effective alternatives to these peaker plants - like energy storage, solar, wind, geothermal, energy efficiency, and demand response. We can make different choices out of abundant creativity, connections, and possibilities. We know we have a lot of power here to make a difference. We have way better options than these peakers - and we have you!
Join the CAMPAIGN
Are you interested in helping us stop the burning of coal in New England? Fill out this form and we can plug you into our campaign.
Our Plan
No Coal No Gas has three campaign goals:
Build community and unity!
Show people that a better world is possible! And we have the power to make it happen!
Shut down the fossil fuel Peaker plants in New England!
Issues We’re Paying Attention To
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We don’t need fossil fuel Peaker plants in New England to meet our energy demands. New England taxpayers are forced to pay millions of dollars in subsidies just to keep these plants open “just in case.” $350 million were earmarked by our electrical grid operators for Peaker plants in their 2024 auction.
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Peaker power plants are disproportionately in and near low-income communities and communities of color, impacting the health of tens of millions of households across the country. Long-term exposure to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter from fossil fuel peakers can cause asthma, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, diminished fertility, miscarriages, and more.
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Burning coal, oil, and gas causes climate change. We need 100% renewable energy. Fracked methane gas is just as bad as coal and cannot be a replacement for coal.
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We know that electrical workers are essential for the energy transition and that the disparity between worker’s pay and CEO compensation is outrageous. We will keep our eye and our actions on how people can be paid for the essential work that they do.
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We must hold our elected officials accountable in order for them to hold corporations accountable. We need candidates who will champion climate justice and safety for us and for future generations. Currently, most of our elected officials take money from fossil fuel companies and utility companies. Many of those politicians then turn around and support fracked gas as a “bridge fuel” and hydrogen as a “clean energy resource” even though they are NOT. This needs to change.
FAQs
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Peaker power plants are disproportionately in and near low-income communities and communities of color, impacting the health of tens of millions of households across the country. Long-term exposure to sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter from fossil fuel peakers can cause asthma, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, diminished fertility, miscarriages, and more.
Closing these peaker plants will free up our ratepayer dollars that currently keep peakers on standby. The forward capacity market (the same system that was sending millions of dollars to the coal plant in Bow) promised $350 million to fossil fuel peaker plants in their 2024 auction.
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None of the regular workers at the coal plant are local union workers, most of the workers are contract workers. We will support steady jobs for local workers, and support IBEW in their goals for a just transition.
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In February 2023, Merrimack Station coal plant failed a mandatory pollution test called a “stack test.” They have not been able to fire their coal plant up to maximum capacity since then, and have not done another stack test despite orders from the Department of Environmental Services. Read more about these stack tests here.
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Burning fossil fuels causes climate change. Our coasts are flooding, our snow is melting and our farmers are facing horrible droughts. Across the world, low income communities and communities of color feel the impacts of the climate crisis at a disproportionate rate. The owners of fossil fuel plants are profiting off of the destruction of our land, air, and climate and we cannot continue business as usual.
We are wasting ratepayer dollars paying for these peaker plants. We could reduce our peak usage and eliminate the need for peakers by focusing on demand response - reducing the peak energy we need.
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The coal plant is owned by a company called Granite Shore Power which is owned by a hedge fund in Connecticut.