The MA Clean Peak Coalition is partnering with Climate Code Blue, SEAM, and YouthCAN to address this source of pollution in their community.
MATEP, or the Medical Area Total Energy Plant, in Boston, Massachusetts, is a gas-fired co-generation power plant providing steam, chilled water, and electricity to the Longwood Medical Area, which includes five hospitals affiliated with the Harvard Institutes of Medicine.
From 1978 to 1998, MATEP was owned by Harvard and operated by the Cogeneration Management Corporation. There was fierce community opposition to building the plant in 1978.
In 1998, Advanced Energy Systems (AES) acquired MATEP from Harvard. Then AES was bought by NSTAR, which owned it until 2010, when MATEP was acquired by a joint venture between Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Veolia Energy North America. The joint venture had an Operations & Maintenance contract with Veolia Energy Boston as the operator of the facility.
In 2018, ENGIE North America and Axium Infrastructure, operating jointly as Longwood Energy Partners, acquired the plant. The partnership is managing long-term utility contracts through the year 2051 to provide steam, chilled water and electricity to the hospitals. ENGIE is the operator of the facility. It also runs as a peaker plant, supplying electricity to the grid
This power plant is located directly in between several of Boston’s major medical facilities and in Environmental Justice communities.
It has 10 gas and diesel oil generation units that put out 402,140 tons of COs equivalent emissions every year.
MATEP Annual Emissions
CO2 equivalent emissions (tons): 402,140.003
CO2 emissions (tons): 401,722.355
SOx emissions (tons): 2.654
NOx emissions (lbs): 1,531.772
CH4 (methane) emissions (lbs): 15,153.088
Fossil fuel emissions from natural gas and diesel fuels contain a high amount of very fine particulate matter (PM). PM2.5 gets deep into lungs and into the blood, carrying it to organs throughout the body.
Key community statistics:
Census tract 810.01 (where MATEP is located)
Designated as an EJ community based on high minority population
About 66% of the population are individuals of color
About 57% of residents are considered low-income
Median household income is near $34,500 (state median is $96,505)
About 18% of residents did not complete a high school education
1.5 mile radius around MATEP
Majority of neighborhoods are EJ
About 48% of the population are individuals of color
About 35% of residents are considered low-income
About 8% of residents did not complete a high school education
Notably, the 1.5 mile radius circle is in the 98th percentile for NO2 and 89th percentile for Diesel Particulate Matter for the entire country
To download, access, and explore BEAT’s MATEP Environmental Justice Map,
visit tinyurl.com/BEAT-MATEP-EJ