New England’s last coal-fired power plant to close 

ON THE SAME DAY the three southern New England states accepted bids for a major offshore wind procurement, the owner of New England’s last remaining coal-fired power plant agreed to shut the facility down by 2028 and possibly earlier.

Granite Shore Power said it reached an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency to close Merrimack Station in Bow, New Hampshire, as well as Schiller Station in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and transform them into what the company called “renewable energy parks.” Officials said Schiller, which is expected to close permanently at the end of 2025, will focus on battery energy storage.

Merrimack Station has been used sparingly in the past, typically on days in the summer or winter months when electricity is in high demand.

Jim Andrews, the CEO of Granite Shore Power, described the closure of the two plants as voluntary, but the Conservation Law Foundation said the shutdown was part of an agreement to resolve litigation brought by CLF and the Sierra Club.

“The end of coal in New Hampshire, and for the New England region as a whole, is now certain and in sight,” said a statement issued by Tom Irwin, the vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation in New Hampshire. “Now we must vigorously push for the phaseout of other polluting fuels like oil and gas.”