Replacing NYC’s Peaker Plants with Clean Alternatives: Progress, Barriers, and Pathways Forward

New York City has the densest concentration of urban power plants in the US, impacting the health of 750,000 New Yorkers and increasing the cost of electricity for all utility customers.

The PEAK Coalition—UPROSE, THE POINT CDC, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA), New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), and Clean Energy Group (CEG)—aims to end long-standing pollution from fossil fuel peaker power plants and the negative effects on New York City’s most climate-vulnerable people.

In a new report, the PEAK Coalition documents progress made since the coalition was founded and examines the steps taken by state, city, utility, and energy industry stakeholders to hasten or delay the shift from polluting power plants to clean, zero-emissions alternatives. The report, Accelerate Now! The Fossil Fuel End Game 2.0, details evidence of encouraging progress, with 700 MW of the city’s peaking capacity fully retired and announced plans for the retirement of an additional 3,300 MW before 2040, representing nearly two-thirds of the city’s fossil peaking capacity. However, the transition has not progressed at the pace needed to protect the health of environmental justice communities and meet the state’s climate goals. More than 75 percent of the city’s dirty and inefficient fossil peaker capacity may remain online and operating beyond 2025, when stricter peaker plant emissions limits are intended to take full effect.

In this webinar, hosted by CEG for the PEAK Coalition, report authors discussed the negative impacts these power plants are having on surrounding communities, highlighted progress and barriers impeding the speed of the transition, and recommended pathways forward to accelerate the transition from peaker plants to clean alternatives.

Flyers mentioned during this webinar are available as a PDF here.

Speakers:

• Seth Mullendore, President and Executive Director, CEG
• Victor Davila, Community Organizer, THE POINT CDC
• Sebastian Baez, Just Transition Coordinator, UPROSE
• Daniel Chu, Energy Planner, NYC-EJA
• Megan Carr, Skadden Fellow – Environmental Justice Program, NYLPI