Brayton Point Power Station offline at midnight

Wow, the end of an era. The last MA coal-fired plant shuts down.

Why?  Is it a good thing?  Simply, the facility could not make money for its owner.  Other forms of energy, including renewables, became more competitive.  Like a lot of other fossil fuel operations, it became a dinosaur.  

Yes, it is a good thing.  Certainly we hope all those lost jobs will get picked up elsewhere, and we have confidence they will.  But we have better ways of powering our homes.  Cleaner and more efficient.  This is old technology.  Let's move on and re purpose the site into something much more productive and fitting with today's economy.

SOMERSET – Brayton Point’s coal plant’s last day of operation ends at midnight on Thursday, a spokesperson from Dynegy Inc., based in Dallas, confirmed Wednesday afternoon. The plan to shut down the plant was decided in 2013 when the plant was under the ownership of Energy Capital Partners.

Dynegy described the closure as “irreversible.”

The company felt that between low energy prices and the high upkeep cost of an aging facility, Brayton Point was no longer a viable business operation.

Approximately 170 workers had employment at the plant. The company said that it offered priority interviews to each employee at the plant for further employment with Dynegy, although the company noted that some of the workers had moved on from the company already.

The representative from Dynegy stressed the company’s appreciation for the staff of the plant, saying it was important for the company to express its respect and thanks for the team’s hard work to maintain safety standards at an aging facility.

So far, beyond decommission, the company has no definitive plans for the land in Somerset, though the company spokesperson said the company had talked to various groups about the development of the land. Somerset has looked into repurposing the land ahead of the shutdown.

The spokesperson also stressed that the move did not come in reaction to the Trump administration’s policies, reminding that the decision to decommission the plant predates the current political climate and Dynegy’s acquisition of the plant.

Brayton Point was Massachusetts’ last operating coal plant and the largest coal plant still operating in New England.

Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor