Renewable Energy Regulations
By Christine Rasmussen

Solar is proving itself a clean solution to rising power demand. Canary Media reported that the U.S. saw the third-largest rise in its electricity demand of any country last year, but it met 88% of that new need with clean power.

In an effort to reduce its emissions by at least 33% by 2025, 50% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and to achieve zero emissions by 2050, the Governor and the legislature passed legislation. It fast-tracks the building of solar facilities by dividing the permitting review. The state reviews facilities over 25 MW in fifteen months, and towns have twelve months to review facilities of 25 MW and below. If a town lacks the capacity to conduct the review, it can request that the state conduct it.

Small towns are struggling to balance state renewable energy goals with local land use concern. Each facility requires 200 acres. The problem led to legal challenges and bylaw disputes. Key issues include: 

• Conflict with State Mandates: Small towns face pressure to meet state net-zero goals by 2050, which encourages developers to target rural farmland. However, towns often want to restrict large-scale projects to protect local resources. 
• Moratoriums Rejected: Small towns like Blandford have tried to implement solar moratoria, but the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office (AGO) has repeatedly rejected them, ruling that temporary bans without convincing evidence of harm violate the mandate to promote solar energy. 
• Legal Battles over Siting: Developers are taking towns to court (e.g., Tracer Lane II Realty), arguing that zoning restrictions are too restrictive. The Supreme Judicial Court is currently reviewing cases on whether towns can reject projects to protect forests, as reported in Stockbridge Updates. 
• Environmental & Safety Concerns: Residents frequently voice concerns about lithium-ion battery storage fire risks near residential areas, and solar panels impacting wetlands or groundwater.

Solar Bylaw Challenges: Developing effective zoning is challenging because Massachusetts law prohibits the “unreasonable regulation” of solar energy systems, leaving towns struggling to define what is reasonable. 

• Focus on Agriculture: Many rural communities are facing proposals for large solar arrays on agricultural land, causing a push for better “dual-use” (agrivoltaics) regulations. 
• Land Use Disputes: Significant tension exists between clearing forests/farmland and the desire to protect them, with many arguing for the use of rooftops and parking lots instead.
  Under traditional zoning laws, towns can request a zoning moratorium to have more time to prepare for new development in their community, e.g., sewer installation and zoning updates to reflect the proposed changes, without losing community character. However, this letter from the MA Attorney General’s Office has the mandate to approve all proposed zoning bylaws to ensure their legality. On March 11, 2026, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (“AGO”) disapproved a proposed temporary zoning moratorium on large-scale solar installations and battery energy storage systems (“BESS”) in the Town of Blandford. The decision is the latest in a growing line of AGO disapprovals of municipal bylaws that frustrate state law on the siting of solar and BESS facilities.

An example of a dispute: Blandford’s Zoning Moratorium Proposal

Blandford proposed amending its zoning bylaws to prohibit the use of land or structures for large-scale solar and BESS installations through May 31, 2026, or until the Town adopted amended zoning bylaws, whichever occurred earlier. The town cited several justifications for the bylaw: three approved installations already completed or under construction, two more in permitting, and three additional projects expressing interest. Uses are allowed only by site plan review and special permit in the town’s Agricultural zoning district which covers roughly 90% of the Town’s land area. A planned Eversource substation expansion would further increase the area’s attractiveness to developers, the Town characterized the situation as one of “unexpectedly high demand” creating “an urgent need to regulate the use.”

What happened? Under Massachusetts law, proposed town bylaws (not city ordinances) must be approved by the Attorney General (AG) as consistent with state law before going into effect. The AG disapproved because it violated G.L. c. 40A, Section 3 which “prohibit or unreasonably regulate” solar energy systems.

It cited a possible “collision” with another state law, and the AG concluded that Blandford’s moratorium impermissibly restricted solar and BESS uses without evidence of a necessary health, safety, or welfare basis for doing so.

Critically, the AGO found that, “the general stated need to put a hold on new, proposed, or anticipated projects simply to study potential impacts or to oconsider zoning regulations—absent any evidence of an actual project impact prompting the need for study—does not by itself qualify as ‘a reasonable basis grounded in public health, safety, or welfare.’”

One key takeaway is that the AGO has consistently rejected local solar moratoria as frustrating state law—the decision’s footnote recites numerous recent denials in Northfield, Ware, Carver, Wareham, Leyden, Pelham, Spencer, Wendell, and others—yet towns continue to propose them. While the result in Blandford was entirely consistent with prior decisions of the AGO, the decision provides a particularly comprehensive explanation.

The position of the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission (BRPC) is that while supporting the adoption of solar and BESS facilities, BRPC has concerns that the regulations were developed with limited representation from small towns. There is also confusion about the adoption of bylaws and the need for town meeting approval. Towns without professional staff do not meet the requirements to prevent the automatic approval of a facility. While supporting the adoption of solar energy, the process of significant solar and BESS expansion is creating friction in local towns over land use and safety. While state goals encourage projects, many municipalities, particularly in Western MA, are struggling with the conversion of farmland and forests into energy sites, often facing proposals for large-scale lithium-ion battery containers near residential areas.

Editor’s note: Legislation for meeting the needs of clean energy and affordable housing, greatly diminished local control. SU thanks Christine for her diligence, attention to detail, and bringing this issue to our attention. While we all want clean energy and sufficient housing, the impact on Stockbridge and Berkshire County could be great and very negative.