What a year it’s been for No Coal No Gas! There has been a lot of work happening behind the scenes and in front of cameras - here are some of the highlights:
Winter:
Last December, we blockaded a coal train, delaying the coal’s arrival at Merrimack Station. We subsequently found out the owning company (Granite Shore Power) has been sued by their coal supplier for “nonpayment and breach of contract.”
We formed learning cohorts, and got more of our No Coal No Gas friends trained as nonviolent direct action trainers.
Behind the scenes, many of us worked on blog posts, outreach planning, all-call planning, food preparation for events, social media posts, strategy discussions, activities that shall remain undisclosed—you name it.
Spring:
Merrimack Station LOST its bid in the forward capacity auction, meaning that in 2026 it will stop receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in forward capacity payments!
We sent more than 400 comments to FERC*, opposing the forward capacity auction rules that keep fossil fuels on our electric grid.
We did an incredible amount of outreach to keep our friends involved in the campaign—from Consumer Liaison Group (CLG)* meetings to direct action.
Summer:
We hosted a retirement party at Merrimack Station! Cake, comedy, and dancing—we celebrated the end of forward capacity payments for coal and encouraged the owners to transition this plant to solar energy.
Due to growing activist power, the spring CLG* meeting was in a community center in Peabody, MA—the home of the fight against the Peabody Peaker gas plant. This was the first time that this ratepayer meeting was deliberately brought to an environmental justice community and not just held in a hotel ballroom.
We took a “campaign break” for a little while during the summer to give us all some time to rest. Taking care of ourselves and each other is vital in keeping up the fight.
Fall:
We snuck up on Granite Shore Power, bringing dozens of people to the coal plant for an action at the end of October. Many of us gathered in Memorial Park for a healing ceremony while our friends took to the river to show that it is time to transition this deadly coal plant to solar energy and bring back jobs and life to this community. Eight of our friends were arrested right out of their canoes in the middle of the river, and their cases are pending.
We headed to the Burlington VT town hall for the fall CLG* meeting, where ISO-NE* officials were easily alarmed by stickers that read “Abolish NEPOOL*” and “Climate change: it’s definitely within the scope.”
Granite Shore Power kept it a secret for a while, but we finally learned that the coal plant failed a stack test in February because they were emitting over 70% more than the federally allowed amount of particulate matter. They’re also having technical issues with their pollution measurement systems and their boiler! So, we distributed over 400 flyers to the Bow community to make sure they know about these tests, which will keep happening while Merrimack Station breaks the rules on pollution…
Winter again
We went back to the hotel ballroom in Boston for the last CLG* meeting of the year where we pressured two board members to join us - something they frustratingly named would not be a priority for their board moving forward.
We interrupted a NEPOOL* meeting with an application to join as ratepayers - and buckets of nickels to pay the entrance fee with. These meetings are always behind closed doors, despite decisions being made about our electrical grid.
The goals of our campaign have been to build unity and community, show what’s possible, and shut down the coal-fired Merrimack Station. This year we got closer to all three of these goals! We spent hours together, getting to know one another while taking action, attending zoom calls, and going to energy meetings. We showed Granite Shore Power that we do not need the coal plant to keep the lights on—that solar energy, battery storage, and reducing peak energy usage are better for the future of our grid. We showed our communities that we are powerful together. We showed ISO-NE that we will continue to show up to change our energy system. And that change is happening: Merrimack Station even lost their forward capacity payments in this year’s auction.
Thank you all for being a part of this!
*Your Acronym Guide for this post
ISO-NE: Independent systems operator, New England. They are responsible for our electrical grid operation, market administration, and power system planning.
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. They are responsible for approving ISO-NE forward capacity auction results, and other major decisions about our electrical grid.
CLG: Consumer Liaison Group. This is the entity created by a FERC mandate that allows ratepayers access to ISO-NE. We took over this space in December of 2022 to make changes that force ISO-NE to be accountable to ratepayers.
NEPOOL: the only group that FERC recognizes as stakeholders in decision-making at ISO-NE. NEPOOL is stacked with fossil fuel and utility company interests, and existing members vote on whether to accept new members (with membership costs of $500/year). Meetings are members-only and confidential. Decisions by ISO-NE are run through NEPOOL for approval. Public interest groups that are members are given very little voting power in NEPOOL.
