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Hubbardston planning board refines grid-scale battery storage bylaw after lengthy debate
Summary
Planning board members, residents and volunteers debated thresholds, siting and forestry protections for grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), moving draft text toward a three-tier system and continuing public review.
The Hubbardston Planning Board spent the bulk of its meeting reviewing proposed zoning changes for battery energy storage systems, focusing on definitions, permitted locations and safety and forestry provisions.
Board members and several residents debated a tiered approach that would exempt small residential batteries while subjecting larger “grid-scale” systems to permitting and siting rules. Planner Alec and volunteers said the working draft would define tier 1 systems as those under 0.5 megawatt (500 kilowatt) capacity and apply permitting only to tier 2 and tier 3 systems above that threshold.
Why it matters: The town’s existing zoning left battery storage unlisted and therefore effectively prohibited, but an earlier attorney general review had…
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