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Without warning, on the most bitter winter days, or the hottest of summer, smokestacks that sit idle much of the year switch online, spewing trails of climate-altering,  pollutants across the sky, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5), known for  and entering the blood system.

 known as 鈥減eaker plants鈥� are still operational across the U.S. Their name derives from the function they serve, shifting from idle to burning gas or oil in infrequent moments when energy demand peaks beyond average鈥攖ypically when heating and cooling needs are the greatest.

In addition to being eyesores and taking up large swaths of space that might better serve the needs of crowded communities, the plants are often located alongside waste treatment facilities and other undesirable infrastructure in low-income areas and communities of color. Many of the plants were built in these locations during the era of , or later,  that had been redlined. Decades down the line, many of the Black and Brown neighborhoods that host them also have the highest COVID-19 mortality rates, because of the long legacy of . An estimated  people living in the  where a plant called Hell Gate is located have died of the virus, in comparison with the U.S. average of . In other words, the neighborhood has lost  residents.

An informal network of scientists, activists, and lawmakers in at least nine states have identified the plants as a first-line target to be replaced with wind, solar, and distributed battery storage, and say doing so would save money and lives. In March, a  of community organizations dedicated to environmental justice in New York City published a detailed  for lawmakers to deliver on the vision, in two five-year waves, which they鈥檒l introduce to the public in an .

Peaker plants tend to be older and inefficient, says Carlos Garcia, energy planner with the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA). 鈥淎 lot of them run on jet fuel oil, and some natural gas, which is literally the dirtiest type of energy fuel source you can imagine,鈥� Garcia tells Truthout. Though many of them only come online a handful of times a year, those that burn natural gas emit  the nitrous oxide (NOx) of newer plants. The PM2.5 particulates they spew are  higher COVID-19 mortality rates, as well as  each year for asthma in New York City.

NYC-EJA is one of five organizations in the , which launched in 2020 and is  to advocate for replacing peaker plants with community-led energy generation projects. Other members of the coalition include UPROSE, THE POINT CDC, New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and Clean Energy Group. The PM2.5 particulates they spew are  higher COVID-19 mortality rates, as well as 6,000 emergency department visits each year for asthma in New York City.

Not only do peakers tend to be dirtier than base load plants, but using them raises utility costs significantly, because of the expense of maintaining them at central locations and powering them on and off with short notice. Companies that own them collect millions in subsidy payments, while residents foot the bill. In New York, peaker plants received  during the last decade, in comparison with  for solar projects over the past two decades, according to the coalition鈥檚 report.

鈥淚nequities in our dated energy system are rooted in the continued investments in fossil fuels at the expense of the health of our most vulnerable communities,鈥� Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of UPROSE, a multiracial Brooklyn-based community development organization focused on bringing about a just transition for residents, says in a . 鈥淲e must move funds to frontline communities for clean energy projects and stop fossil fuel developers from perpetuating conventional investments in dirty energy and injustice,鈥� Yeampierre says, noting the ongoing effort of power company NRG to add yet  to its fleet , known as 鈥渁sthma alley.鈥�

Residents living within a 1-mile radius of the Oswego Harbor Power Plant, one of only a handful of such plants left in upstate New York, are ranked in the  for incidence of heart attacks, based on an analysis of New York State Health Department data by the nonprofit research institute Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy (PSE). The  went online only six times in 2018 (the most recent year for which data are available). But if residents suspect hazier-than-usual skies, no federal air quality data exists to help make sense of the short-lived plume of pollution, as the  are 40 and 70 miles away, respectively, in Syracuse and Rochester.

The social toll of peaker plants is significantly greater in urban places like New York City, with  living within a mile of a peaker plant,  of whom are low-income and/or people of color. And whereas the upstate plants operate only a few days annually, the Hell Gate plant, for instance, averages turning on  each year, often on days when air pollution levels are already at their highest. In general, that burden is in line with the findings of research on plants in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Texas, among other states, says Elena Kreiger, director of research at PSE. 鈥淵our highest-rate emitters are often near disproportionately impacted communities, so they should probably be the first [in] line for replacement,鈥� Kreiger says of her initial findings in a , which the latest PSE research builds on. In New York, peaker plants received  during the past decade, in comparison with $112 million in incentives for solar projects over the last two decades.

The PEAK Coalition鈥檚 proposal to phase out select plants in 2025, including Hell Gate, and the remaining plants in 2030 is designed to prioritize communities most affected by peakers, by ceasing damage to the immediate environment and creating new local job opportunities, the report states. Emissions from the city鈥檚 peaker fleet cost the state , on track to rise to  by 2030, in expenses related to morbidity and mortality.

By 2025, the PEAK Coalition suggests, peaker plants could be replaced by 1.5 gigawatts of offshore wind, growing to 3 gigawatts by 2030. New York State鈥檚 existing offshore wind goal is  by 2035.

Wind turbines are notoriously low-performing during summer months when demand often skyrockets鈥攋ust the time when peaker plants are used more frequently. But that鈥檚 where solar comes in. Solar panels, which the PEAK Coalition envisions becoming ubiquitous atop city rooftops, generate energy at increased capacity during summer months. The report calls for 2.8 gigawatts of rooftop solar by 2025, and 5.6 gigawatts by 2030, aggregating and storing that power in  and through advancements like 鈥�.鈥� Energy storage capacity would need to roughly double during those years, and be paired with significant energy efficiency efforts.

鈥淭he previous barrier was that of technology, and that鈥檚 just not the case anymore,鈥� Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, director of environmental justice for NYLPI, told Truthout. 鈥淵ou have both the solar and wind technology to unleash at the local, regional, and national levels.鈥� Solar energy is now the 鈥渃heapest electricity in history,鈥� as .

Rogers-Wright was 7 years old when he moved from Washington, D.C., to New York City, where he joined West Side Little League, and remembers being stunned by how many of his teammates, mostly Black and/or Latino boys, relied on inhalers, as compared with his peers in D.C. 鈥淭hey clearly had a lot of cardiovascular impairment simply because of what was built by where they live,鈥� Rogers-Wright says. Peaker replacement is only the very tip of the iceberg in the transition to renewables, but represents a logical, actionable, justice-oriented first step.

The PEAK Coalition鈥檚 blueprint provides an opportunity for state officials to deliver on climate policy set out in the , Rogers-Wright says, which establishes a goal of  generation by 2030. The plan is also in line with the Bidenand New York State environmental justice commitments, ensuring that at least  of the benefits of clean energy investments go to disadvantaged communities. Based on the average emissions of New York City peaker plants from 2017 to 2019, retiring the city鈥檚 peaker fleet could reduce  of CO2 each year, or about  of New York City鈥檚 annual CO2 emissions generated by commercial sources. As Kreiger of PSE has pointed out, peaker replacement is only the very tip of the iceberg in the transition to renewables, and is more feasible in , but represents a logical, actionable, justice-oriented first-step.

Garcia points out that the tendency of the 鈥溾�� organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council to be awarded funding over smaller-scale organizations is an impediment to the community-led transition the PEAK Coalition envisions, as is the tendency of peaker plant owners such as Consolidated Edison to be gatekeepers of their energy generation data.

But Rogers-Wright calls 鈥減olitical will鈥� the greatest existing barrier, noting, however, that the New York State Senate recently passed the  of 2021. , which would require peakers to be replaced with renewable energy systems and battery storage within five years of the renewal of a plant鈥檚 operating permit, is now in committee before the New York State Assembly. The PEAK Coalition is also working with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) and U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-New York) on a federal bill they鈥檒l introduce later this year.

鈥淧eople in environmental justice communities are being choked by toxic policies, toxic emissions, and toxic police officers鈥攖hey鈥檙e extremely linked,鈥� Rogers-Wright says, noting the necessity of intersectional organizing that brings abolitionists and environmental justice advocates together with labor groups to continually exert pressure on lawmakers.

鈥淚 think the [peaker plant replacement] blueprint will serve as that organizing tool.鈥�

This story originally appeared in and is republished here as part of , a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.