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Charlton planning board discusses challenging state clean‑energy siting rules, plans data push and public comment
Summary
Board members debated the state site‑suitability tool and DPU/DPU‑related hearing language that ties allowances to environmental‑justice criteria; members discussed submitting comments for the Oct. 9 hearing, assembling local data on nameplate capacity, and asking CMRPC to help compile a county‑wide inventory of energy infrastructure.
Board members spent a lengthy portion of the Oct. 1 meeting discussing Massachusetts’ evolving siting rules for renewable energy and battery storage and how the rules treat towns that already host significant energy infrastructure. Board members described Charlton as “burdened” by existing facilities (LNG and multiple solar fields) and discussed strategic steps to request changes to the siting manual and to document the town’s cumulative energy footprint.
A board member summarized the immediate problem: the state site‑suitability tool awards points for “environmental justice” communities (income,…
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