As the shutdown of the last coal-fired power plant in Boston this week marked the conclusion of the state’s decades-old reliance to the fossil energy, the change to other resources of electricity creates myriad issues.

Brayton Point Powerstation in Somerset – the biggest coal-fired plant in New England – went dim Wednesday included in a shutdown which was for several years.

The 1,500-megawatt power plant was the last of the alleged dirtiest power generators. They included Salem Harbor Power Station, which stopped burning coal on Mt, and June 1, 2014. Jeff power plant in Holyoke, which shutdown per month later.

Environmentalists and health advocates this week heralded the end of the coal era in Massachusetts, saying it accelerate the growth of renewable energies for example wind and solar energy and will help lower the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.

“Coal will be the past, clean energy may be the potential said Emily Norton, director of the Massachusetts Phase of the Sierra Club. “We know that this transition is good for our kids, good for the economy, and good for our health while they graduate and seek secure, good-paying jobs.”

Jonathan Levy, a Boston University professor of environmental health, said the state has established the shift from coal can be made without hurting the economy or raising energy prices.

“The the reality is that the lights have kept on in Massachusetts, ” he added or transitioned to other types of gasoline, even while these services have shut down.

Dan Dolan, president of the New England Power Generators Connection, said strict federal pollution laws as well as the availability of inexpensive, domestic natural have paired to produce coal-fired power plants too costly to use.

“Coal really hasn’t played a large part within the regional electric grid in decades,” he said. “The energy industry was already phasing coal out, simply, due to the economics.”

He explained state and national environmental policies, as well as public resistance, ensure it is unlikely that another coal-fired power plant will be accepted in Massachusetts.

“It’s difficult to see their state ever moving back in the direction of coal,” Dolan said.

Massachusetts has reduced its carbon emissions by 47 percent since 2005, partly because of the decrease in coal use, according to the Georgetown Climate Center.

20 years ago, about one quarter of the energy produced within the Bay State was created by coal-fired power plants, based on the U.S. Energy Department.

A year ago, coal accounted for just about 2 percent of the power generation — from Brayton Point and three additional coal -fired power plants including two positioned in New Hampshire.

Nearly 50 percent of New England’s energy today arises from gas, while a third originates from nuclear power, according to the business that runs the local power grid, ISO New England.

Hydropower, solar and other renewables accounted for around 15 percent of the power delivered to the regional grid, the party said, while just one percent comes from oil.

Massachusetts faces a growing power crisis having an expected loss of over 10,000 megawatts of power within the next several years as fossil-fueled plants are shut down. The Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth is planned to get black in two years.

Besides power requirement, their state is committed by going into renewables to cutting the state’s carbon output by 25 percent of 1990 levels within four years.

Previous month, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a wide-hitting energy bill that requires utilities to pursue long term contracts with hydropower manufacturers and offshore wind developers.

The measure requires the state examine storage alternatives for renewable energy.

Baker administration officials say solar and wind alone wont can’t give enough juice to meet energy needs, which hydropower and gasoline will remain an integral part of their state’s “combination plate” energy mix.

Power plant generators have raised concerns about state mandates for hydro and wind, arguing that they will stifle competition and ultimately drive up regional energy costs.

Several power generators — including the Salem Harbor Footprint power plant that is appointed to come back online soon — have changed oil and coal with propane.

Environmentalists are worried about deepening the state’s reliance upon gas, a fossil energy that adds to greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. They’ve fought efforts to create new gas lines for the place, which ISO New England believes are essential to make sure a reliable source of energy.

“We need to concentrate our assets on renewable energy.”

Steve Dodge, executive director of the Massachusetts Petroleum Council, claimed because more clean energy plans are adopted by the state, natural gas must be part of the picture.

“Natural fuel was previously the fair haired child of ecological community,” he said. “Now we’re considered the main evil empire, although it’s one of the sole factors behind the decrease in greenhouse gases in New England.”

To be sure, their state needs to meet criteria to lessen its carbon footprint by 25 percent of 1990s levels within three years, and 80 percent by 2050, to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act, a federal law the state signed onto years ago.

The state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Massachusetts is not following that mandate and other guidelines aimed toward reducing these emissions a year ago. It required annual limitations on greenhouse gas emissions before state meets the environmental objectives.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s pledges to rollback environmental rights and restore the nation’s coal industry has worried renewable energy fans in regards to the progress designed to produce solar and wind aggressive against coal and propane.

“Dirty coal isn’t making a return,” he said. “The tide has come and gone.”