Question and Submission History

Under the 2024 Climate Act's consolidated permitting process, the state Energy Facilities Siting Board holds final permitting authority over clean energy infrastructure of this scale. If the town declines to negotiate, the project can still be permitted by the state, and the town would receive whatever standard tax assessments yield. We are still researching what those assessments would amount to for a project like this, and we will publish that analysis when it is complete. The Community Benefits Plan process gives the town a direct say in what the project delivers locally. Predictable annual payments for things like local infrastructure, senior centers, and emergency services are the kinds of terms the town can raise there. If the town wants payment terms beyond standard taxation, tools like a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement are available for the town and the project to consider together. Comparable Massachusetts battery storage projects in Carver and Medway reached agreements this way, and we will share their figures as reference points as the community benefits discussions continue. Negotiating is also not the town's only lever. The town, and any organized group of residents, can intervene as a party in the EFSB proceeding, and the state's Intervenor Support Grant Program can fund the attorneys and technical experts that participation takes.

PILOT stands for payment in lieu of taxes. A battery project loses value on paper as the equipment ages, so ordinary property taxes shrink over time. A PILOT sets a predictable payment each year instead. Developers like it for the same reason towns do: both know what to expect. The town negotiates it, usually through the town administrator, with the Select Board and Planning Board having a say. Other towns have agreed to 20-year terms.