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Dear 'Links,
Dominion Energy, the Salem coal plant's owner, has quietly filed a "Permanent Delist Bid" with ISO-NE, the authority responsible for insuring adequate supplies of power across the New England region.
By filing to permanently withdraw Salem Harbor Station as an electricity generator, Dominion has signaled that is does not believe it can run the plant profitably and that it cannot maintain the plant going forward. It is our understanding that this lays the groundwork for shutdown.
Dominion has received more than $30 million in payments from the ratepayers for "not providing electricity but for standing by." We, the public, have been forced  to bear the cost of maintaining an obsolete coal plant well beyond its useful life.
We have been involved in
this long and very important struggle for clean air and improved public health for the North Shore.The reality that this plant may shutdown in the next few years gives our region and the City of Salem an unparalleled opportunity to redevelop the site. Underway is a $200,000 state-funded study to look at maximizing the uses of this large deep water port right in the heart of the city.
To learn more, join us at an information event on Sunday when HealthLink and Shana Cleveland from Conservation Law Foundation, our lawyer in the federal suit against the plant for opacity violations, will be on hand to answer questions about the implication of the filing.
The event, The Real Cost of Coal, will be held Sunday, Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the First Church, 316 Essex Street in Salem. In addition to the featured presentation by the Union of Concerned Scientists which will give an overview of coal's dossier, you will learn about the plight of the Colombian coal miners and meet one of their union leaders. Please come on Sunday night!
P.S. And plan to come with us to the Annual Meeting of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow on December 9 and work with us on reducing exposure to ubiquitous chemicals in our homes, air and yards.
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