Radical Overhaul of Siting in Mass. S.2838

The Massachusetts Senate just approved energy legislation that is shocking in its scope and strips
communities of local control over the siting and permitting of industrial solar, onshore wind
turbines, large-scale battery storage, and utility transmission and distribution infrastructure.¹
S.2838² is a radical overhaul of our state’s permitting structure for energy facilities of all kinds, at
the state and local levels.
The State House of Representatives is about to vote for virtually the same legislation.
One government report projects that “even with maximal rooftop [solar panel] deployment far in
excess of historic levels” we’ll still need 60,000 acres of ground-mounted solar arrays – and
potentially double that amount – to meet the state’s clean energy goals by 2050.³ Another official
report estimates that if all thermal power plants are shut down our state will need about 158,000
acres for solar panels by then.⁴
Land is cheapest in the western part of the state. This State House legislation is directed at us.
Government officials know that once citizens start seeing vast solar buildouts scarring our
landscapes, wind turbines littering our ridgelines, and huge battery-storage facilities shoehorned
into our neighborhoods, there will be furious protests in town halls throughout our region.
So the legislative leaders have decided that for energy projects 25 megawatts or larger, all decisions
will be made by a single state agency.⁵ The host town government will be able to submit
comments,⁶ or rack up legal bills trying to protest within a system stacked against it.⁷ That’s it.
For projects smaller than 25 megawatts, all local permits will be consolidated into one application,
to be reviewed and approved by the town⁸ using standards set by the state.⁹ The only possible
appeal will be to that single state agency,¹⁰ and that remedy will be available solely to applicants or
to parties that are “substantially and specifically affected,”¹¹ meaning virtually nobody.
Supporting clean energy shouldn’t cost our home-rule rights. The only way to stop this outrageous
power grab is for the delegations of the western counties to tell the House leadership they strongly
object to any loss of local control. The vote is imminent. Please call your state representative right
away and say “vote NO to less local control.” If you want to find your representative, click here, and
scroll to the box below the map: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator. And remember
on election day.

1. S.2838, lines 179, 629, 663, 664, 1286, 1336
2. https://malegislature.gov/bills/193/s2838
3. https://www.mass.gov/doc/interim-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2030-december-30-2020/download, p. 41
4. https://www.mass.gov/doc/ma-2050-decarbonization-roadmap/download, p. 63 of 92.
5. S.2838, line 1584
6. S.2838, line 1663
7. S.2838, lines 1646, 1658
8. S.2838, line 701
9. S.2838, lines 665, 695
10. S.2838, lines 729, 734
11. S.2838, line 736, 1752