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Freetown narrows rules for large battery energy storage, limits facilities to industrial zones
Summary
The town adopted zoning amendments to regulate large-scale battery energy storage systems, restricting them to industrial zones and clarifying tiers; planning board members said the bylaw aims to avoid state permits overriding local control when state rules take effect in October.
Freetown voters adopted two related zoning articles to regulate large-scale battery energy storage systems, adding definitions and use regulations that restrict industrial-scale installations to industrial zones and exclude residential-scale storage from the new restrictions.
The planning board, represented by Chairman Chad Cavallo and the town planner, told voters the town needed a local bylaw ahead of forthcoming state standards expected in October; without a local bylaw, the state could issue permits that would allow installations in locations the town deemed inappropriate. The planning board described the bylaw as intentionally more restrictive and said it removes the largest allowable facilities from local permission.
Article 13 was amended on the floor to strike the words "overlay district" from the warrant and then adopted unanimously. Article 14 set the use regulations and tier thresholds: the board described tier 2 as installations up to 10 megawatts and tier 3 as anything above 10 megawatts, and said the bylaw targets industrial-scale storage, not household systems such as vehicle chargers or home battery systems.
Residents raised questions about aggregate residential storage and whether household systems plus electric vehicles could approach the thresholds. One resident asked whether two vehicles and home batteries could exceed the cited 250-kilowatt-hour threshold; planning board members said the bylaw was intended to exempt normal residential systems and that enforcement and adjustments could follow if circumstances changed.
A motion to table Article 14 failed (yeses 128, noes 66 on the tabling count), debate continued, a motion to call the question passed and the article was adopted by the required two-thirds vote.
What's next: the new bylaw and use regulation take effect as adopted; the planning board and building/fire officials will be the primary implementers for permitting and enforcement and may propose adjustments if residential-scale concerns emerge.
