The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and other area unions are putting on their rally caps tonight in Brockton. But the show of force isn't for the Red Sox. They're converging on Brockton City Hall for what they hope will be a "massive" show of support for Brockton Clean Energy's controversial $350 million power plant proposal. Union leaders say the plant, primarily fueled by natural gas, would bring much-needed jobs and tax revenues to the "City of Champions."
The state Energy Facilities Siting Board gave the project a preliminary go-ahead in January (a final decision is still pending), but officials did not exempt the plan from local zoning requirements. Getting those permits won't be a shoo-in given the vociferous opposition to the plant from many city officials and residents. Just last week, a city planning board denied the project's request to build transmission lines and a substation, tacking another several months on to the process.
Some residents point to the Brockton Brightfield, the largest solar power plant in New England and the largest brownfield-turned-brightfield in the US, as evidence that the city should move in a different direction. Yet despite the push toward greener power in Massachusetts and elsewhere, traditional power plants still have an important role to play in power generation. In the Spring issue of CommonWealth, I explore why fossil fuel plants aren't dead yet.