New York state will not meet its goal of shutting down inefficient power plants that only operate a few days a year by next May — and advocates say in a new report that communities in Brooklyn will suffer the consequences.

Two “peaker plants” in Sunset Park and Gowanus are only activated when there is high demand for electricity, like the hottest days of the summer. In July, the New York Independent System Operator, which coordinates the daily distribution of electricity, extended the life of both fossil-fuel plants for two years, citing a “reliability gap” to address 4.5% of peak demand.

In the report, a coalition of environmental groups criticize that decision as “subjecting nearby communities … to extended exposure to harmful emissions.”

“A lot of the costs of peaker power plants are not from when they are operating but actually for the cost of just being available to operate when demand is highest,” said Daniel Chu, one of the report's authors and an energy planner at the nonprofit New York City Environmental Justice Alliance.

Peaker plants are expensive for New Yorkers. The mostly idle facilities are fully staffed. Between 2010 and 2019, peaker plants cost $450 million annually for around 100 hours of operation, according to Chu.

In a cruel twist, people living near peaker plants tend to experience more frequent brownouts and blackouts, the report states. Peaker plants also release sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, which have an extensive list of negative health effects, including heart disease, cancer and premature death.

The concerns about the Gowanus Generating Station and Narrows Generating Station come amid growing worry about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s commitment to the state’s ambitious climate goals. The state Department of Environmental Conservation created a peaker rule in 2019 to retire the plants and reduce emissions that exacerbate asthma and lead to respiratory illnesses.

The coalition's report argues that the state wouldn’t need peaker plants if energy providers better managed demand on the grid.

“Historically speaking, New York state has only looked at increasing supply to meet the increasing electricity demand,” Chu said. “We would never really look at how we can manage the demand in a way that makes it more reasonable to supply energy to the grid.”

The coalition of environment groups that produced the report write that electricity demand can be tamed, eliminating the need for peaker plants entirely. Making buildings more energy efficient is a key step toward fulfilling that goal, but the biggest hurdle is changing when electricity is used. The report’s authors write that smart thermostats, turning off lights and doing high-energy tasks such as laundry late at night can help curb demand.

Chu said the biggest gains will not be realized by relying on individuals to change their behavior. Instead, he said, software and automation can be used to dim lighting when the sun is shining bright or turn off the air conditioner when no one is present.

The report calculated that such a measure would allow the grid to have about 6,700 megawatts of flexibility annually, eclipsing the need for peaker plants.

“We recognize the importance of a well-coordinated grid planning process, so that the pace and sequencing of fossil-fuel plant retirements, the addition of dispatchable clean energy, and the integration of intermittent renewable technologies prioritize reliability,” Con Edison spokesperson Allan Drury wrote in an email.

According to the New York Independent System Operator, demand is rising due to electrification. Electric vehicles and heat pumps are creating more overall demand, even as fossil fuel power plants are retired. An increase in economic development and manufacturing — including for computer chips and semiconductors — has also put more load on the system.

“We are going to need to develop new resources that can run for long periods of time and are flexible to change with the demand hour to hour,” said Kevin Lanahan, vice president of external affairs at the New York Independent System Operator.

After the two-year extension is up, the Independent System Operator can extend the use of peaker plants for an additional two years.