In Cheshire, Ohio, the General James M. Gavin Power Plant dumps toxic coal ash into unlined “storage ponds” that sit above the area’s groundwater. Thick blue plumes of sulfuric acid rise up from the plant’s smokestacks and occasionally settle over what’s left of the town. The coal-burning plant, a project of the 1970s, has outlasted most of Cheshire itself. After its former owner, American Electric Power, protected Gavin’s future by buying out nearby homes, a joint venture firm called Lightstone Generation LLC snatched up the massive coal plant, ensuring its prosperity with support from a network of private equity investors.

Ten of the largest investors in the Gavin Power Plant are public pensions. Near the top of the list is the New York State Common Retirement Fund, a massive pension system administered in Albany by a recognized leader on climate action. With a $500 million investment in Blackstone Capital Partners VII — a specific fund raised by the private equity giant — the New York State Comptroller’s Office funnels cash from the retirement fund to the Gavin Plant, according to financial research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

The pensioners who draw from the $233 billion Common Retirement Fund likely don’t know that their savings are supporting the coal plant. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has pledged to divest from fossil fuel producers that don’t have climate transition plans. Since 2019, his office has divested from fifty-five oil and gas companies, and it’s in the process of assessing more.