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End coal in New England

We are still burning coal in New England for electricity, and we are all paying for it.

Ten to 20% of your electric bill goes to fossil fuel subsidies that keep this dirty energy on the grid. These charges are payments to Merrimack Station, not only keeping coal on the grid, but enriching the private firm that owns Merrimack at bill-payer expense. The Independent System Operator of New England (ISO-NE) should be using dollars to invest in New England’s collective future, not propping up this dangerous and outdated industry.

ISO-NE is tasked with maintaining the reliability of our electrical grid. However, fossil fuel infrastructure contributes to unreliability longer-term, since climate change exacerbates weather conditions that cause outages. Recent case studies predict widespread power outages of 42%-64% due to deteriorating climate conditions.

Instead of being spent as forward capacity payments to fossil fuels, our funds could be directed to projects that increase sustainable generation, reliability and climate resilience as well as efficiency, and low-income assistance.

Merrimack Station and other fossil fuel generators are poisoning our communities. In one hour of operation, Merrimack Station releases greenhouse gas emissions equal to those released by an average citizen over 26 years. The community in Bow and downriver of the Merrimack Station has been sickened from the plant’s pollution. According to the Global Energy Monitor, three deaths, six heart attacks, and forty-seven asthma attacks per year can be attributed to the Merrimack coal plant.

A movement to decommission the Merrimack plant can be supported by submitting a comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) at: www.ferconline.ferc.gov . The docket is # ER22-1417-000.

Need help making sense of the FERC comment system? Assistance is available at www.nocoalnogas.org.

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