PORTSMOUTH, NH - Five activists were sentenced to fines in Portsmouth District Court on March 12 for dropping a 175 foot banner off of the smokestack of fossil-fuel fired Newington Station. They were originally arrested in August 2024 as part of a series of No Coal No Gas campaign actions aimed at building momentum to shut down all fossil-fuel fired peaker plants in New England.
The five activists pled guilty to Class B Misdemeanor charges of trespass on Granite Shore Power Property, and were sentenced to fines totaling a collective $2976. They remain proud of their actions and stand by their commitment to do what is necessary in the fight for a swift transition to renewable energy and ongoing care for communities harmed by fossil fuel infrastructure.
“We are proud to be part of a community of resistance, especially when the people in charge of how electricity is made and delivered to us, law enforcement, and the courts keep prioritizing corporate profit over our collective wellbeing,” said Leif Taranta, a defendant and organizer with the Climate Disobedience Center.
Newington Station and other oil and gas fired “peaker plants” only run when the region’s electricity prices are at their highest. Despite not operating for months or years at a time, these generators receive millions of dollars in ratepayer-funded payments from grid operator ISO New England. These “forward capacity payments” serve as guaranteed profits for the private equity firms that own the power plants, artificially raising electric bills at ratepayers’ expense.
“Government officials keep talking about getting rid of wasteful spending, yet we are subsidizing dirty fossil fuels,” said Kendra Ford, an organizer with 350 New Hampshire Action. “These funds are collected as unitemized charges in our electric bills. We could instead use this money to transition to clean energy, battery storage, and conservation efforts- actions that would reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and make electricity more affordable.”
In 2024, over 60 fossil fuel peaker plants in New England were promised more than a collective $350 million in ratepayer-funded subsidies for continuing to operate through June 1, 2027 thru May 2028, despite the fact that most will run for less than 1% of this period. In the meantime, dozens of renewable energy resources are waiting for the funding and grid-connection sites needed to come online. The funding and grid connection sites monopolized by fossil fuel peaker plants could be repurposed to support the clean energy transition. No Coal No Gas is determined to build the organizing power needed to make this happen.
“Although the environmental, public health, and climate damage from fossil fuels becomes more stark year by year, corporations like the one that owns Newington Station continue to operate with no end in sight,” said Nathan Phillips, an ecologist and organizer with the No Coal No Gas campaign. “I am dedicated to continuing to build community with those who refuse to accept that status quo and are instead showing what’s possible, working to transition every fossil fueled power plant in New England to healthy, affordable and reliable energy for all.”
No Coal No Gas activists are also organizing a program for community conservation and demand response: mechanisms that everyday ratepayers can use to reduce peaks in electricity demand to make fossil fuel peakers fully obsolete. Their campaign is building an electricity grid that works for everyday people instead of corporate interests.
