HOLYOKE, MA -- Thirty climate activists gathered at the ISO-New England headquarters in Holyoke, Ma, to call on the grid operator to cease funding coal and other harmful fossil fuel sources. Some of the crowd wore white tyvek suits, carried buckets of coal, and chanted “Hey Ho ISO, we don’t want no dirty coal!” while walking to the entrance of ISO-NE’s headquarters. The individuals in tyvek suits dumped their buckets of coal into two wheelbarrows that were delivered to the front gate of the building.
ISO-NE will hold its annual forward capacity auction on Monday, February 8th, to determine how much guaranteed funding plants like Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, NH will receive to stay operable through 2025. The results can either limit or expand the speed of our transition from fossil fuels to renewables across the region.
“As a resident of Holyoke I feel a special responsibility for holding the ISO accountable to the residents and ratepayers of Massachusetts and New England,” says Elizabeth Ramírez, organizer with the No Coal No Gas campaign. “Before knowing that ISO is right in my backyard, I was already alarmed about the high rates of asthma in Holyoke and nearby Springfield. I am a public school teacher in Springfield, which is infamous for being the asthma capital of the United States, ranking #1 for the highest number of asthma cases and asthma-related visits to emergency rooms. This results in high rates of absenteeism in my district and asthma, along with poverty, is one of the contributing factors.The jet stream brings pollution from other parts of the country and it settles here in our Valley and the same thing happens in Bow, NH. The pollution from their coal-burning does not stay there...it gets picked up by the jet stream, blows to other cities and towns and making THEIR students sick. Unfortunately, Black and Brown populations frequently bear the largest burden of the pollution load and this is not just or fair.”
Activists are calling on ISO-NE to suspend capacity payments and cancel existing capacity contracts to fossil fuel generators, starting with the coal-fired Merrimack Generating Station in Bow, New Hampshire. Instead of committing ratepayer dollars to subsidies in the form of fossil fuel capacity payments, activists are calling on ISO-NE to redirect that money to ratepayer relief and payment forgiveness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to combat the climate crisis, we must move to 100% renewable energy, and ISO-NE is getting in the way by propping up outdated fossil fuel plants.
“ISO must use its power to support the transition to renewable energy rather than continuing to subsidize fossil fuels. We join with the Massachusetts Attorney General and U.S. Senators from around New England in calling on ISO to adopt energy market rules that promote affordable clean energy, healthy communities, and climate protection,” said Steven Botkin, one of the campaign organizers.
This action is part of the ongoing No Coal No Gas campaign, a grassroots coalition organizing to stop the burning of coal and other fossil fuels for electrical generation in New England once and for all. For more information about the campaign, visit nocoalnogas.org and strikedowncoal.org.
