Mount Tom Station

The Mount Tom Station was a coal-fired power plant located in Holyoke, Massachusetts. It was the last coal-fired plant in Western Massachusetts before its closure in December 2014.[1]

Mount Tom Station
Country
  • United States
LocationHolyoke, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°16′52″N 72°36′18″W
StatusDecommissioned
Commission date1960
Decommission date2014

History
Mount Tom Station as it appeared in an MA Dept. of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE) and EPA survey, November 1982

The plant was opened in 1960, and was briefly converted to run on oil for ten years after 1970, before returning to burning coal.[2] Starting in 2009, it no longer became profitable to run the station except in times of high demand due to the natural gas boom in the United States. The boom has resulted in the price of coal growing relative to the price of natural gas which makes coal generation less competitive.[3][4]

In 2014, GDF SUEZ Energy North America, the owner of the plant (via FirstLight Power Resources), announced that they would be closing the plant later that year citing economic concerns.[5] The town of Holyoke plans to clean up and re-purpose the site in the future.[5]

In October 2016 ground was broken at the site for the construction of a new solar farm.[6]

See also

References
  1. TUTHILL, PAUL. "Study Shows Health Benefits Of Power Plant Standards". WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  2. LaBorde, Tom (30 September 2012). "Mount Tom power station in Holyoke to undergo review". Springfield Republican. Holyoke, Massachusetts. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  3. "ELECTRICITY DATA BROWSER". eia.gov. United States Electricity Information Administration. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. Koch, Wendy (December 16, 2013). "U.S. forecasts natural gas boom through 2040". USA Today. USA Today. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  5. Plaisance, Mike (December 2, 2014). "Holyoke meeting set on reuse of closed Mount Tom Power Station site and cleaning soil of contaminants". Mass Live. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  6. Plaisance, Mike. "Mount Tom Solar Farm groundbreaking at former Holyoke coal-burner set for Oct. 13". MassLive, Advance Digital. Archived from the original on 2016-10-06. Retrieved 6 October 2015.

External

Media related to Mount Tom Station at Wikimedia Commons

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