AGAWAM — The Agawam City Council officially approved a resolution in support of a state bill that, if passed, would require local legislative approval of a battery storage facility before it can be built in that community.
Sponsored by City Councilors Anthony Russo, George Bitzas and Peter Smus, the resolution states that the passage of the bill-titled, “An Act requiring local approval for battery storage facility permitting” would reinforce “municipal autonomy and democratic input in land use decisions.”
“We’re sending a clear message to Boston,” Russo said during the July 7 City Council meeting. “What fits in one community may not fit in another, and we should have a say when something like this comes into our community.”
Currently, towns and cities do not have the authority to vote for or against the buildout of battery storage — or BESS — systems in their respective communities. During an early spring council meeting, Mayor Christopher Johnson said the systems have protected status under Massachusetts General Law and are part of the state’s “energy sustainability universe.”
The battery banks have “broad flexibility,” according to the resolution. Smaller systems are available for homeowners and small businesses, while more medium-sized distributed generative facilities can connect to a grid.
Some communities have larger utility scale grid connected systems with much larger storage capacity, the resolution states.
According to previous Reminder Publishing reporting, the systems basically store electricity: they charge their batteries when power is cheap on the grid and release their energy when power is needed on the grid.
Thousands of BESS systems operate quietly and safely in small communities across the country, according to Agawam Fire Chief Alan Sirois, including a couple in Agawam. He and Johnson noted that there is one large facility attached to Tuckahoe Turf Farm.
Despite their prevalence, residents in the area have expressed safety, proximity and environmental concerns about these systems: tinyurl.com/r4ezrccs. In response to some of this apprehension, Agawam passed an ordinance in April that set strict rules for developers who want to build future storage systems in town.
The new set of regulations make it so developers would need proof of liability insurance, a submittal of fire test data, evaluation information, fire safety compliance plans and maintenance manuals in order to build a facility.
It also requires that the systems must meet the “maximum amount of protections,” including the National Fire Protection Association standard and UL underwriter’s laboratory requirements. Additionally, the ordinance forces owners of larger BESS systems to provide a bond to the town would cover the cost of decommissioning the facility if the owner were to walk away.
“This ordinance does not propose the immediate installation of [battery storage] systems in the city of Agawam,” said Sirois during an April council meeting. “It simply gives us a governance tool to ensure that when [battery storage systems] are installed, we have the best possible administrative governance tool to ensure that they are installed and maintained to the highest standard from cradle to grave.”
Still, though, local legislative bodies do not have the authority to prevent or allow the systems from being built. The state legislation, initially presented by state Reps. Kelly Pease (R-Westfield) and Lindsay Sabadosa (D-Northampton), would allow local bodies to not only vote on the buildout of a system in their communities, but also allow municipalities to install their own site requirements.
The bill also requires that developers provide detailed plans of their system, and at least one public hearing take place before a vote on the matter. Developers who build a system without local approval would face a fine of up to $100,000, according to the bill’s language.
By passing the resolution during its July 7 meeting, the Agawam City Council is basically saying that they support the bill, which was filed in April and currently has 10 legislators petitioning for it.
The council now plans to send the resolution to the governor, state senator and representatives.
“This resolution that we’re doing tonight is the best thing we could possibly do because it tells our legislature that we want to have a say,” Councilor Edward Borgatti said.
Not everyone was in support of the resolution. City Councilor Tom Hendrickson was the lone dissenter of the 10-1 vote because he felt that the resolution was instilling unnecessary fear into the community.
“I’m going to be voting in opposition to this resolution, mainly because I’m not aware of any legitimate evidence to suggest that BESS systems pose any significant risk to public safety, to the environment, or to causing any disturbances or disruptions to the community,” Hendrickson said. “It’s a perfectly reasonable regular part of any electrical grid.”
Readers can visit Reminder Publishing for more coverage on the BESS facilities: tinyurl.com/2ubt7nnk.
