HAMPDEN — The Hampden Planning Board officially recommended a six-month moratorium of battery energy storage systems at its Aug. 14 meeting.
With this decision, the moratorium now must be approved by residents at the Oct. 29 Town Meeting in order to be active, Planning Board Chair Madison Pixley told Reminder Publishing.
If approved, the following six months will be utilized to create a bylaw that addresses the specific concerns and needs of Hampden concerning battery energy storage systems. This process would include an analysis of battery energy storage systems bylaws in comparable towns, such as Ware, Wilbraham and Medway, Board of Selectmen Chair Donald Davenport said.
This bylaw change would then need to be approved by residents at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2025, Pixley said.
A battery energy storage system bylaw was first discussed at the Planning Board’s June 12 meeting with members speaking to Davenport and current Planning Board member John Matthews about the “significant damage” that battery energy storage systems could create if they were to fail.
The discussion was initiated following two inquiries about establishing systems in town, although neither party has formally applied, Davenport stated. These concerns were again highlighted at the Aug. 14 meeting, leading to the board’s moratorium recommendation.
The largest concern brought forward by Davenport was the potential for contamination of Hampden’s aquifers, as the town’s water source. He explained that the town’s aquifers provide vital water to local residents and businesses, which could be put at risk for contamination from nearby storage systems.
Additionally, the town’s “small, on-call fire department” would be unable to manage a large-scale fire from a battery energy storage system due to limited access to water, Davenport stated. Other concerns include noise levels from the machines’ fans as well as complications related to the decommission process.
“The attorney general has been pretty strict on not allowing moratoriums but we felt that we could get at least a six month moratorium based on what we need to do here,” Davenport said when asked why a period of six months was selected for the moratorium. He stated that he felt six months was “reasonable” to construct the bylaw due to the availability of other similar language from surrounding towns.
Likewise, Matthews stated that the process would likely not require a committee to create. He noted that information about battery energy storage systems should also be included in the town’s solar bylaw.
“I think we need to … revamp the whole solar bylaw because the Operations and Maintenance Plan needs to include a testing schedule for these [systems],” Matthews said. He shared that the testing would be “year-to-year” and be reviewed by the Building Department or the town’s preferred engineering firm.
The recommended moratorium would not “apply to battery energy storage systems for residential accessory use, commercial building accessory use or accessory to ground-mounted solar photovoltaic energy system projects already approved by the Planning Board,” as stated by the moratorium.
