Tear Down the Smokestacks!
Build Public Renewables!
Between heat waves and toxic air, New York has reached the boiling point.It’s time to replace the dirty, inefficient peaker plants polluting our communities and fueling the climate crisis.Help us demand Governor Hochul commit to tear down the smokestacks and build public renewables that bring clean, affordable energy to New Yorkers!
What Are Peaker Plants?
Peaker plants are some of the dirtiest and least efficient energy sources around, powered exclusively by fossil fuels. These plants operate in NYC during times of high electricity demand, so they work fast, not clean.
That also makes them some of the most expensive peak electricity in the US.
Since they only work intermittently, the price for their power comes at a much higher cost than standard power. Beyond their environmental impacts, they have extensive social and health impacts on nearby communities.
New York’s dirty energy grid has damaged our communities and our planet for too long. It’s time to shut down NYC’s polluting peaker plants and replace them with clean public power.
Community Impacts
Wealthier areas and corporations get the energy they produce, while Black and brown communities get blackouts and polluted air. Peaker plants are disproportionately located in lower-income communities of color, making those neighborhoods bear the impact and costs of quick, dirty energy.
Map of NYC showing percentage of low income households (darker = higher percentage), and location of peaker plants (darker = more hours in operation, therefore more polluting)
*Sources: epa.gov, data.gis.ny.gov
Environmental Impacts
Peaker plants produce, on average, 2 to 3 times the amount of carbon emissions of standard power plants.*
Peaker plants burn dirty fossil fuels, spewing pollutants like nitrogen oxides, methane, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide (CO2) — chemicals that pollute the environment and worsen climate change. And they release these toxins at a higher rate than standard power plants because of their fast, inefficient operation.
Our communities deserve clean air and a sustainable future.
*Sources: https://www.cleanegroup.org/initiatives/phase-out-peakers/ https://www.cleanegroup.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Peaker-Problem.pdf
Health Impacts
Repeated exposure to peaker plant emissions can cause or worse asthma, heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and other conditions, health conditions rates for the communities surrounding these plants. In Mott Haven and Port Morris, asthma hospitalizations are 8 times the national average; in Hunts Point, 1 in 4 adults has asthma.
How To Fight Back
Last year, we won a new law to shut down all peaker plants by 2030 and replace them with publicly-owned renewables. That means clean energy and high-quality jobs, with savings going back to New Yorkers.
But Gov. Kathy Hochul is blocking progress. By moving goalposts and questioning NY’s climate targets, she’s putting us on the path to climate catastrophe and never-ending asthma alleys. It’s time to build the future we deserve!
Call the Governor and your rep, spread the word, and stay connected! Together, we can build an energy system that works for New Yorkers, not shareholders.