Pittsfield Generating is a 176MW fossil fuel fired power plant located in the center of Pittsfield, MA, near many of the City’s K-12 schools, public parks, and the Housatonic River. Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired plants contribute to global climate change, while also impacting the health of those living and working nearby.
Schools, senior centers, senior living facilities, and environmental justice communities are located close to the power plant. In particular, students, teachers, and staff at Allendale Elementary, which is located adjacent to the Facility, are at risk for adverse health outcomes. Life expectancy in the surrounding environmental justice neighborhoods is up to 12.5 years shorter than in the more affluent outlying neighborhoods.
The Clean Peak Coalition has commissioned Applied Economics Clinic to research and release a report on the harms to Pittsfield from emissions released by Pittsfield Generating. Data gathered by AEC researchers show that “Pittsfield residents face heightened health risks due to their proximity to the Pittsfield Generating Facility and other air pollution sources; census tracts in Pittsfield tend to have higher rates of pollution-related health outcomes than other tracts in Berkshire County. Tracts located in Pittsfield have the highest prevalence of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and stroke among the adult population compared to other census tracts in Berkshire County.”
» Download and read the Health Impacts Study from AEC
The plant, owned by private equity firm Hull Street Energy, has in recent years successfully appealed the City of Pittsfield’s tax assessments of its infrastructure, claiming that its assets have depreciated considerably. In doing so, they have decreased their tax payments by half, hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Meanwhile, the plant’s profits are soaring. BEAT recently learned that Pittsfield Generating’s forward capacity payments received (meaning funds paid to electric generation sites by ISO New England, the regional grid operator, whether they run or not) were $4.6 million in the last auction (a figure confirmed by the analyst group Strategen) and approximately $6.5 million in the most recent auction– a 40% rise in passive income before the plants generate any power at all. This makes the fact that they raised and won an appeal to have their tax payment to the city cut in half is shocking.
In reality, the plant’s infrastructure is deteriorating, but so long as the financial incentive remains for it to continue running while raking in capacity payments, the highly polluting effects on the neighboring community are likely to worsen as the plant’s condition declines.
However, a transition to solar + storage could be done in Pittsfield, and there are ample opportunities for federal clean energy grants through the Inflation Reduction Act. These grant opportunities are available for municipalities and community groups to remove emissions sources from impacted communities.
This opportunity for the City and community groups to work with Pittsfield Generating’s owner could keep the business on City tax rolls much longer than the currently diminishing life span of the aging fossil fuel peaker, raise the plant’s tax value, and remove the pollution it produces at the heart of the City.
BEAT met with officials in the Mayor’s office in March to review the possible ways that these funds could be used to partner with the owners of Pittsfield Generating, and figure out how to decarbonize, but as yet, the City hasn’t moved on partnering with BEAT and the Massachusetts Clean Peak Coalition in applying for these IRA grant opportunities, and the deadlines are looming. It’s a fresh opportunity to remove the outdated and polluting power plant, and transition it to modern battery storage as part of meeting the state’s ambitious emissions targets, ensuring a tax base for years to come, and as a viable business strategy.
