Letter: Beware bill that would rob us of home rule on big energy projects

Eleanor Tillinghast, President of environmental group Green Berkshires, shared her concerns in this Letter to the Editor printed in The Berkshire Eagle (7/17/24):

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.”

Her letter references S.2838 — An Act upgrading the grid and protecting ratepayers — recently passed by the Massachusetts Senate. Calling it “a radical overhaul of our state’s permitting structure for energy facilities of all kinds, at the state and local levels,” she warned that the House of Representatives is about to vote for virtually the same legislation. The House does in fact vote on H.4876, pdf available from this link, today, 7/17/24.

More LTEs appeared in the Greenfield Recorder

My Turn: We’re directly in path of green energy ‘steamroller’ (7/17/24) by Gloria Kegeles

Given that almost all solar and onshore wind projects are “small,” if some version of this bill passes, pretty much any solar or land-based wind project would have to be given the state-determined rubber stamp by the towns. Larger projects would get permitted directly by the state.

Why is this even happening? Because our local town boards, following the guidance of citizen-supported bylaws, try to protect our towns from inappropriate proposed energy projects. We have witnessed these conflicts for a while. Deep-pocketed developers descend upon smaller, poorer rural communities who they think are sitting ducks and will just permit their projects.

While some see our towns as weak and defenseless, what we have seen are dedicated citizens and boards working diligently trying to hold the line — often too successfully for the likes of the project owners. And that puts us in the way of the green energy steamroller. We are now “the problem.”

To fix this mess, the state wants to take control, and that means changing laws that have afforded us our cherished local control.

Eleanor Tillinghast: No to Loss of Local Control (715/24)

To meet our state’s clean energy goals, we will need 60,000 acres of solar arrays, and potentially double that, by 2050. This State House legislation is directed at our western counties, where land is cheapest. Government officials know that once citizens start seeing vast solar buildouts, ridgeline wind turbines, and huge battery-storage facilities, there will be furious protests throughout our region.