The plant, built in 1960, is blamed by some for contributing to Holyoke's high asthma rate.
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The Mt. Tom Power Plant along the Connecticut River in Holyoke.
HOLYOKE – Mount Tom Station, one of the few remaining coal-burning power generation plants in Massachusetts, will be taken off line for one year in 2016, and environmental groups opposed to the plant say the move signals it will be permanently shut down.
According to a joint statement issued by the groups Healthy Holyoke!, Coal Free Massachusetts Coalition and the Sierra Club, the move to cease producing electric power for for 2016-17 makes it unlikely it come back on line.
ISO New England accepted a proposal known as a “dynamic de-list bid” from the plant’s
owner, GDF Suez, meaning the plant will not be expected to run or to receive any payments from the Forward Capacity Market.
The Forward Capacity Market is the annual process under which ISO New England projects how much electricity to power the region three years in advance and then conducts an auction to purchase resources that will meet that demand. Electrical suppliers that are selected in the auction are then required to provide power or curtail demand when called upon by ISO New England.
“While the plant still has the option to run and be paid for electricity it produces, the act of de-listing means that the owner believes there is a significant chance it will not be economic for the plant to run during that year,” the release states.
Charles B. Burnham, manager of government and regulatory affairs for GDF Suez, declined to comment.
Marcia Blomberg, spokeswoman for ISO New England, confirmed ISO New England accepted the de-list offer, which included about 134 megawatts of power.
She said that while it may have withdrawn from the capacity market for a year, the plant has the option to produce and sell electricity into the region’s wholesale electricity markets if it chooses.
While no one with ISO New England or GDF Suez has explicitly said the de-listing is the first step to shutting the plant down, the three environmental groups say the move signals it is unlikely to start up again.
They note two other coal-fired plants that have been shut down first announced they were leaving the market for one year, just as Mount Tom is doing.
They also note that with the acceptance of the de-list offer, ISO New England is signaling that the Mount Tom plant is not essential for meeting the region’s demand for electricity.
“This is a strong indication that Mount Tom could permanently retire without any impacts on electric reliability for customers,” the group's release notes.
As recently as July, company officials said there were no plans to permanently close the facility.
Built in 1960 as a coal-burning electric power generating plant, Mount Tom Station was converted to oil-burning in 1970 and converted back to coal-burning in 1981.
It has been criticized as being one of the state’s largest polluters and been blamed for asthma rates in Holyoke that are higher than the state average.
In 2009, GDF Suez was forced to install pollution control equipment that they say cost $55 million, but there is evidence that significant pollution continues, according to the statement from Healthy Holyoke!, Coal Free Massachusetts Coalition and the Sierra Club.
There are four coal-burning plants in Massachusetts, and Mount Tom is the only one in Western Massachusetts.