shutting down big gas.

• Author: Kwoka, Bethany
• Position: PROGRESS REPORT

This is proof that communities can stand up to big gas and win.

--JERRY ELMER, SENIOR ATTORNEY

THE PROBLEM

At a time when New England (and the world) needs to rachet down greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the region cannot afford to invest in new fossil fuel power plants. Yet Invenergy, an energy developer based in Illinois, has been pushing to build a massive fracked gas and diesel oil power plant in Burrillville, Rhode Island, since 2015.

Building this plant would mean paving over a pristine forest and belching carbon pollution into the air for decades. Despite strong opposition from Burrillville residents and many others in the region, Invenergy has spent years trying to convince state regulators to let it build this dirty power plant.

CLF IN ACTION

As soon as Invenergy filed its application to build the plant with the state, CLF took action. The organization intervened in the case and was joined by the Town of Burrillville, residents, and other local organizations opposed to the proposal.

CLF and its allies spent the next four years showing the Rhode Island Energy Facility Siting Board--the state entity that decides whether or not a power plant can be built--that this plant is both harmful and unnecessary. CLF demonstrated how uniquely valuable the proposed build site is to wildlife and how constructing a power plant there would damage the entire surrounding ecosystem. CLF also showed that a fossil fuel plant would make it impossible for the state to reach its climate goals. And the organization explained how New England doesn't need this dirty power at all, as the region has enough energy to cover its needs already.

Ultimately, Invenergy spent about $45 million dollars in its attempt to convince the Siting Board to grant it a permit to start construction. CLF and the community stood against it at every turn.

PROGRESS

In June, the Siting Board denied Invenergy the permit needed to build its plant. The state entity agreed with what CLF had been saying all along: the region does not need the energy the plant would produce.

In November, the Siting Board issued a written decision that elaborated on its oral decision and more fully detailed its reasons for the denial. Invenergy chose not to seek court review of the Siting Board's decision, meaning that the proposal is officially dead.

NEXT STEPS

Rhode Island's rejection of the Invenergy proposal is a victory for CLF and for the entire region. However, New...