Brayton Point Power Station To Close By 2017

A Southeastern Massachusetts power plant recently cited by Federal regulators as one of the state's heaviest polluters is planning to shut down. 

Owners of the coal-fired Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset filed papers Monday indicating the plant will no longer provide power to the grid by 2017.

The announcement came just months after the plant was sold to Energy Capital Partners, a private equity firm with offices in New Jersey and California.

Environmental groups had long sought to close the plant, which topped the Environmental Protection Agency's list for most toxic emissions in Massachusetts in 2011.

Jonathan Peress of the Conservation Law Foundation said the announcement is an indication that coal-fired power is no longer economically viable.  Brayton Point is the largest coal-fired plant in New England.   (Associated Press)