The plant on Merrill Road owned by Pittsfield Generating. BEAT says the company has been in talks with the group.

LEE, Mass. — Two peaker plants in Berkshire County have been out of service for two years and are in the process of demolition. Local environmentalists are rejoicing.

"It's phenomenal," said Rosemary Wessel of the Berkshire Environmental Action Team. "To actually see the physical proof of a peaker plant not just shut down but removed is just more than we really expected and it's really great."

Peaking power plants — also known as peaker plants — run when there is a high demand for electricity. Facilities on Woodland Road in Lee and Doreen Street in Pittsfield shut down in 2022 and are being removed entirely, with usable parts auctioned off.

The Lee site has already been cleared.

Owned by the Carlyle Group and operated by Cogentrix, the decades-old plants had reached the end of their commercial lives.

"The facilities reached the end of their respective useful lives," a Cogentrix spokesperson said. "They were no longer needed for peak energy use periods or grid reliability; therefore, the company made the decision to retire the units."

About three years ago, BEAT started a "Put Peakers in The Past" petition demanding that the three peaking power plants in the county revert to renewable and clean alternatives. The third is Pittsfield Generating Co. on Merrill Road (owned by Hull Street Energy.) The group also found support from the Pittsfield Board of Health.

Wessel said when the environmental nonprofit got in touch with Cogentrix, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development Chris Sherman was more than open to the idea of retiring the plants. In 2021, Sherman was the vice president of regulatory affairs and has a background in clean energy.

"The first Zoom meeting, it was pretty amazing. They said, 'You're right, we should be doing it,'" Wessel said.