Power Plant Retirements

Over the last decade, New England has seen the retirement of significant amounts of the resources it has traditionally depended on for electricity. Many of these resources, which include nuclear power plants as well as coal- and oil-fired generators, are able to store fuel on-site; this allows them to sustain operations during expended periods of cold weather.

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Natural gas plays a pivotal role in powering the region, though the supply of this fuel can be constrained in winter. The region’s largest natural-gas-fired generator retired in 2024.

State decarbonization policies are driving a shift toward resources with variable output, such as solar and wind, battery storage, and imports. Some of these resources are supported by state-backed power purchase agreements, meaning they can often bid into the region’s competitive wholesale electricity markets at prices below those of traditional resources, including natural gas.

The transition from older fossil fuel resources toward clean energy resources will drive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, the shift to weather-dependent resources also presents new potential challenges to operating the grid reliably.

See Status of Nonprice Retirement Requests and Retirement De-List Bids for the most current list of future and historical resource retirements in New England.

The Economics of Retirement

Several factors are challenging the ability of older plants to recover the cost of capital investments for maintenance.

Fuel and environmental-mitigation costs make them too expensive to effectively compete against:

Newer, faster natural-gas-fired generators that typically have lower fuel costs and use less fuel
Growing levels of renewable-energy resources that have no fuel costs, low operational costs, and government incentives designed to lower their initial capital investments

Older plants can require up to 24 hours to reach full power production, making it difficult for 快活app官网 operators to rely on them when system conditions are tight. Their age and lack of regular operation can also sometimes lead to mechanical problems.
Oil-fired power plants tend to keep limited fuel supplies on site to avoid the expense of purchasing oil that they may not use. So, even when called to run, they are not always able to run for very long.
When wholesale electricity prices drop due to the price of natural gas, revenues are reduced for these older resources when they run.

For many, the only option is to retire. These resources are likely to be replaced by intermittent clean energy resources.

Retirement of Resources with On-Site Fuel that Can Sustain Operation during Cold Weather

On days when natural-gas-fired generators have unconstrained access to low-cost pipeline gas, they usually produce the majority of New England’s electricity. However, natural gas delivery constraints in winter caused by high demand for this fuel from both the heating and electric power sectors can prevent these resources from filling this need during cold weather.

Wind output can be especially variable during winter. During an extended cold spell in 2017鈥�2018, 快活app官网 system operators observed variable hour-to-hour generation from wind turbines, as wind speeds fluctuated throughout the 16-day period. At times, transmission congestion also required curtailments of some wind farms.

With the region’s last coal plant set to close, oil-fired plants, which typically don’t run often, are critical on cold winter days when the fuel for natural-gas-fired generators is limited and expensive. Distributed solar power can significantly reduce daytime demand in winter, delaying depletion of stored fuels. However, because cloud and snow cover reduce solar output, there’s no guarantee solar power will be available when it’s needed most.

Oil Generation if High During Extreme Winter Cold