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Expansion proposal for Brooklyn plants fuels data center fears
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Nov 14, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
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AlphaGen
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Nov 14, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
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The owner of a pair of floating power plants near Sunset Park, Brooklyn wants to expand the facilities, prompting protests from environmentalists who fear they could be used one day to power data centers.
The Gowanus Generation Station and nearby Narrows Generation Station are peaker facilities that are only activated during periods of peak demand. Such plants produce a disproportionate amount of pollution. But environmentalists' goal of closing the peakers has run into the reality of the downstate grid, which is under strain and largely dependent on fossil fuels since the closure of the Indian Point nuclear facility.
The owner of the plants, AlphaGen, submitted an expansion plan to Con Edison earlier this year, stating that it expects the company's operating permit will be extended past 2029. Alarm over that proposal grew in recent weeks when a company that owns, invests in and operates data centers, DigitalBridge Group, bought AlphaGen’s parent company for more than $1 billion.
“Sunset Park is not a dumping ground for dangerous energy projects,” said State Senator Andrew Gounardes, who joined a protest Thursday over the expansion plans. “Big Tech has the resources to invest in clean energy and help lower our utility costs, but instead, they’re doubling down on polluting a community that has already carried the burden of projects like this for decades. We demand investments that move us forward and we won’t stop fighting until we get them.”
AlphaGen’s expansion proposal “recognizes the realities of current power technology and the need to balance reliability with sustainability,” Curt Morgan, CEO of AlphaGen said in a press release. He added that the plan is intended “to start a conversation about supporting cleaner technology as a bridge to a zero-emissions future.”
But environmental activists who rallied near the Gowanus Generation Station said there is no conversation to be had. They want the peakers shut down entirely.
“ We can't let big tech get a wish list of gas plants, and we can't let them throw Sunset Park residents under the bus just so that they can continue to pad their profits,” said Santosh Nandabalan, organizing director at New York Communities for Change.
Environmentalists have long pushed to close the peaker plants because of the disproportionate amount of pollution they produce.
AlphaGen
The Gowanus Generating Station is a floating 260-megawatt natural gas power plant on barges in New York Harbor. The facility houses 32 turbines on four floating platforms.
The nearby Narrows plant is a 322-megawatt floating peaker plant that consists of 16 turbines on two barges.
AlphaGen wrote it wants to replace the units on all six barges with three new power barges that will deliver a total of 819 megawatts. The company said it will reduce emissions by more than 50% through the upgrade.
"New York City's electric grid is facing a growing reliability gap as older infrastructure retires and demand continues to rise," Morgan said in a statement.
Under the 2025 Peaker Rule, both Brooklyn plants were scheduled for closure by last July. But the state grid operator determined that the plants needed to remain open until May 2029 for grid reliability, citing surging demand from electrification and heat waves.
According to the federal government’s accountability office, peaker plants produce 1.6 times more sulfur dioxide, high levels of nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter than baseload plants that run continuously. Rapidly activating the peakers during times of maximum demand results in less efficiency and more pollution.
AlphaGen spokesperson Aaron Gruen said in a statement that its proposal had no connection to data centers and that it had yet to submit a formal plan to a state regulator.
“New York’s grid operator has found that New York City needs new, dispatchable power by the mid-2030s to replace aging plants and maintain reliable service as electrification of buildings and vehicles increase electric demand,” Gruen said. “The Gowanus proposal would replace 1970s-era units with more efficient, lower-emitting turbines, and if it moves forward, AlphaGen will work alongside the state, the city and our neighbors in the Sunset Park community.”
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Health and Science
brooklyn
Rosemary Misdary
Rosemary is health & science reporter. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 646-544-9524.
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