Playing Catch Up — hard to imagine that anything besides the Desisto Public Hearings, the election, and Town Meeting went on in May 2025. but there were other meetings

Notes from the statewide meeting of the Energy Facilities Siting Board, May 5, Hybrid meeting

The meeting extended over three hours. The initial content consisted of presentations by Commonwealth representatives explaining “An Act Promoting a Clean Energy Grid, Advancing Energy Equity, and Protecting Ratepayers” signed into law in November 2024, and the regulations that are being written now to implement the law.

The elements regulated will include the permitting process, the implementation of the Executive Order to accelerate permitting, environmental justice, and site suitability for large wind structures, transmission lines, solar panels, battery storage, and more.

These presentations were followed by comments from the 351 municipalities. There was an unexpected uniformity of response across a large, diverse group of municipalities. The common themes were opposition to the eradication of local control over where and how many battery storage facilities, fields of solar panels, wind turbines and transmission lines will be sited and the concomitant devastation of open spaces, forestlands, trees, views, etc. There would be local control over permits for small (25 megawatts) facilities. All expressed opposition to less local control.

The Commonwealth will devise a Energy Site Suitability Score. There was serious concern that there would be a disproportionate impact (burden) placed on certain areas of the state, particularly rural and forested regions.

There were flat critical statements that the Commonwealth and the Governor’s office was not listening to local concerns.

To meet the goals of the new law, it is estimated the 133,000 acres of currently undeveloped land will be destroyed to install the energy facilities. There was strong support for natural solutions and recognition that the trees cut down are oxygen producers.

Expenses were incurred to translate the content of the meeting into 11 languages, and to employ 40 staff members plus consultants to write the regulations.