Public Comment Hearing November 19th, 2025
The Siting Board will conduct a hybrid public comment hearing with both in-person and remote participation options on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
Location: University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Marketplace
285 Old Westport Rd North Dartmouth, MA 02747
Note: The UMass Dartmouth Marketplace is located in the Campus Center on the first floor, just across from the Career Center and UMass Pass office. To find it, go through the sliding glass doors, cross the street, and look for the building that houses the Marketplace.
Remote attendees: please join by clicking the available link. For audio-only participation, attendees can dial in at (646) 558-8656 (not a toll-free number) and then enter the Webinar ID:851-1541-3807.
The full notice for this hearing can be accessed at the following link.
To provide oral comments during the public comment hearing (in person or on Zoom), please send an email to SitingBoard.Filing@mass.gov with the subject line “EFSB 25-06 SPEAKER SIGN UP”, and your name, email address, and mailing address in the body of your email, by noon, November 18, 2025.
To sign up by telephone, please leave a voicemail message referencing “EFSB 25-06” at (617) 305-3544 with your name, telephone number, and mailing address. Preregistered commenters will speak first, and other commenters afterwards. The Siting Board also invites written comments on the Project. Written comments will be most useful to the Siting Board if submitted by Monday, December 8, 2025.
At the public comment hearing, the Company will present an overview of the Project. Public officials and members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide comments about the proposed Project. The public comment hearing will be transcribed by a court reporter. A recording of the public comment hearing will be available on the Siting Board’s YouTube channel after the hearing.
Important Dates
Public Comment Hearing: November 19, 2025
Deadline to file written comments: December 8, 2025
Deadline to file for intervention/limited participant status: December 8, 2025
Public Review of the Company's Petition
Hard copies of the Company’s petitions, including all attachments, are available for public inspection at the following locations:
Boston
Energy Facilities Siting Board One South Station, 3rd floor Boston, MA 02110
Dartmouth
Town Clerk’s Office 400 Slocum Road Dartmouth, MA 02747
Southworth Library 732 Dartmouth St. Dartmouth, MA 02748
North Branch Library 211 Cross Rd. Dartmouth, MA 02747
Zoning Petition
The Siting Board will review the Zoning Petition to determine whether the zoning exemptions should be granted, and whether the proposed use of the Substation is reasonably necessary for Page 3 the convenience or welfare of the public, pursuant to G.L. c. 40A, § 3. A map of the Substation Parcel is provided below; the Substation Parcel is identified as “630 Fisher Road.”
Intervention and Participation
Persons or groups who wish to be involved in the Siting Board proceeding, beyond providing comments at the public comment hearing or submitting written comments, may seek either to intervene as a party or to participate as a limited participant.
A petition to intervene or participate must also be filed no later than Monday, December 8, 2025, and follow the instructions provided below.
“Intervenor" or “Party” Status: An intervenor can participate fully in the evidentiary phase of the proceeding, including the right to participate in evidentiary hearings, file a brief and present comments to the Siting Board on the Tentative Decision, and to appeal a Final Decision.
“Limited Participant” Status: A limited participant receives documents during the proceeding and may file a brief and present comments regarding the Tentative Decision to the Siting Board. A petition to intervene must demonstrate that the petitioner may be substantially and specifically affected by this proceeding. See below for filing instructions. For more information on the Siting Board’s procedural rules, please see the available link.
Filing Instructions
Written comments on the Project, or a petition to intervene or participate as a limited participant in this proceeding, must be filed in two places: First, the comments or petition must be sent to the Siting Board by email - to dpu.efiling@mass.gov AND to Connor.C.Tarr@mass.gov
no later than the close of business on December 8, 2025.
The text of the e-mail must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding (EFSB 25-06); (2) the name of the person or entity submitting the filing; and (3) a brief description of the document. The email should also include the name, title, and telephone number of a person to contact in the event of questions about the filing. Second, the comments or petition must be sent by email to counsel for the Company, Catherine Keuthen, Esq. at ckeuthen@keeganwerlin.com
Accomodation Requests
Reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities (e.g., Braille, large print, electronic files, audio format) are available upon request. To submit a request for an accommodation, please email Melixza Esenyie - Non-Discrimination Coordinator and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs at, eeadiversity@mass.gov or call 617-626-1282. In your communication, please include a description of the request with as much detail as possible and provide a way we can contact you if we need more information.
Please allow at least one week advance notice. Last-minute requests will be accepted, but we may be unable to fulfill them. Page 4 Language interpretation services are available upon request. Include in your request the language required and a way to contact you if we need more information. Requests may be made at least one week in advance. It may not be possible to accommodate last-minute requests. Contact the Presiding Officer for more information (contact information below).
Non-Discrimination Notice
The Siting Board does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, income, ethnicity, class, disability, religious creed or belief, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, English language proficiency, or ancestry in administration of its programs or activities. See the Siting Board’s Non-Discrimination Notice.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against with respect to a Siting Board program or activity, you may contact Melixza Esenyie (identified above) to learn how and where to file a complaint of discrimination.
Project Description
According to the Company, the Project is needed for the timely and cost-effective development and interconnection of DG and generally, for the Company to maintain a reliable electric power system.
The Project was approved as part of a Department of Public Utilities’ (“Department”) capital improvement project (“CIP”) designed to overcome the high cost of interconnection for many DG projects through expeditious system upgrades. NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 22-52/D.P.U. 22-53/D.P.U. 22-54/D.P.U. 22-55 (2024). The Company requests individual and comprehensive zoning exemptions for the Project. The Fisher Road Substation site is 4.52 acres, and the existing fenced yard is 0.31 acres. To accommodate new and upgraded equipment while keeping Eversource customers reliably energized during Project construction, the fenced yard would be expanded to 0.95 acres, mainly to the north of the existing Substation yard, which would require installation of approximately 800 feet of galvanized chain link mesh fencing. Additionally, 0.5 acres of trees would be removed as part of the site preparation and grading work. The scope of the work includes replacing two existing 20 megavolt-ampere (“MVA”) transformers with two 62.5 MVA transformers, and installing two 15 kilovolt (“kV”) air cooled series reactors, constructing new foundations and trenching, new transmission line conduits and a new 15 kV transmission switchgear enclosure.
The Company states that the expansion would be conducted in phases to allow the Substation to remain in service during construction, and it anticipates that construction would last about 18 months. The Company also plans to construct other upgrades in Dartmouth that are not part of this Project, including upgrades to the Cross Road Substation, placing distribution lines underground along the access road to the Project, and other distribution line work.
Project Filing with EFSB
All documents related filed in relation to a proceeding are posted to the DPU Fileroom. The Fileroom page for a proceeding represents the official record for that proceeding. The public can access the Fileroom page for this proceeding at the following link:
Contact
For further information about the proceeding, please contact the Presiding Officer at the address or telephone number below:
Connor Tarr
Presiding Officer
Energy Facilities Siting Board One South Station Boston, MA 02110
(617) 305-3596
Useful Information
EFSB Siting and Permitting Reform Updates
For more detailed information on the Siting process: Energy Facilities Siting Board Handbook (updated 2019) | Guía para fijar la ubicación de instalaciones energéticas (2019)