The Brayton Point Power Station, New England's largest and one of its last coal-fired power plants, which has been generating electricity since the 1960s, shut down permanently. It's been cited by federal regulators as one of the region's heaviest polluters.

SOMERSET, Mass. — New England’s largest — and one of its last — coal-fired power plants shut down permanently Wednesday.

The Brayton Point Power Station was scheduled to power down before a midnight deadline, culminating a decades-long shift from coal, oil and nuclear energy to lower-cost natural gas.

The plant has burned coal since 1963 along Mount Hope Bay in Somerset, near the Rhode Island border. It has generated controversy for almost as long, with residents, fishermen and environmentalists decrying the damage that its cooling canals — nicknamed “killing canals” by activists in the 1970s — caused to fisheries.

The coal plant’s final hours came on the same day that President Donald Trump’s administration said he expects to withdraw the United States from a landmark global climate agreement. The president has moved to delay or roll back federal regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions while pledging to revive long-struggling U.S. coal mines.

Environmental concerns led Brayton Point’s operators to build giant twin cooling towers in the last decade that can be seen for miles. But in 2013, at the completion of the costly upgrade, a decision was made to close the plant.

Houston-based plant owner Dynegy said it bought the plant after the decision to close it. It has worked to help the plant’s 170 workers find other jobs. A small crew is staying on for the decommissioning process.

Dynegy spokesman David Onufer said that low electricity prices and the high cost to maintain aging facilities were the main reasons for the closure.