A Berkshire Environmental Action Team campaign Put Peakers in the Past is demanding that the three peaking power plants located in Berkshire County revert to only renewable and clean alternatives. Peaking plants are used to meet periods of high energy demand. The decades-old plants at Pittsfield Generating Co. on Merrill Road, the Eversource substation on Doreen Street and the EP Energy plant on Woodland Road in Lee run off fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and kerosene. Pittsfield Generating is a co-generating plant that also provides steam energy. Rosemary Wessel, program director for BEAT s No Fracked Gas in Mass campaign, said this sparks concern from environmentalists because the fuels emit excess nitrogen oxides and contribute to the region s greenhouse gas emissions.
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Pittsfield Generating, on Merrill Road, runs primarily on natural gas. In 2019, it emitted 39,176.89 metric tons of carbon dioxide and 6.65 metric tons of nitrous oxide while operating just under 6 percent of the time, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Though they run just a small fraction of the time, âpeakerâ power plants often fire up on the hottest days of summer or the coldest days of winter. And when they are on, they typically are among the worst polluters.
Local climate advocates have started a push to convert three Berkshire peakers to cleaner alternatives.
The Berkshire Environmental Action Team wants the plants to switch to using renewable energy and battery storage. To make that pitch, itâs seeking to build a coalition that already includes the Berkshire NAACP branchâs environmental justice committee, Masspirg Students, Indivisible Pittsfield and a number of local climate action groups.