Second Public Comment Hearing (Canceled)
Note: The April 29, 2025 hearing has been canceled.
The Siting Board will conduct a virtual (remote) public comment hearing on:
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
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.
Link to the full notice can be accessed here.
Motion to Withdraw
On April 25, 2025, Westfield ESS LLC requested that the Energy Facilities Siting Board grant its motion to withdraw the Petition that the Company filed under G.L. c. 40A, s. 3 and G.L. c. 164,
s. 72 and terminate this proceeding because the Company no longer intends to proceed with its development of the Project.
See the full motion to withdraw.
Transfer Order to EFSB
On February 21, 2025, the DPU issued a procedural order transferring the docket, Westfield ESS LLC in D.P.U. 24-151 to the EFSB for further review and decision. The transfer order implements sections of the 2024 Climate Act that moved authority to grant zoning exemptions (except for the City of Boston) from the DPU to the EFSB effective February 18, 2025. Evidence necessary to adjudicate the DPU docket shall be submitted and reviewed in the related EFSB proceeding.
The transfer order is available at this link.
Public Comment Hearing #1
The Department conducted a public comment hearing with both in-person and remote participation options on Thursday, December 5, 2024, at 6:30 p.m.
The in-person hearing was held at Scanlon Hall (Building 15) - Loughman Room, Westfield State University, 577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA 01086.
The Department invited written comments on the Project. Written comments are most useful to the Department if submitted by December 20, 2024.
A recording of the public comment hearing was posted to the Department’s YouTube channel after the hearing, at Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board - YouTube.
Severe Weather Notification and Alternative Date
12/5/24 Note: The public comment hearing will proceed on Thursday, December 5, 2024.
If there is severe weather, any postponement will be announced on the Zoom link and on the Department’s Project website.
If there is a weather emergency on Thursday, December 5, 2024 that necessitates postponing the public comment hearing, then the hearing will held on the following backup date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024 , 6:30 p.m., at the same location.
Project Information
The Company proposes to construct a 200 MW/800 MWh BESS, located on the Project Site on Medeiros Way in Westfield (also known as Summit Lock Road). The BESS would charge with power from the electric grid during periods when there is excess energy and deliver power back onto the electric grid during times when there is a higher need for electricity. The proceeding does not involve the rates that utilities charge their customers. The Project would use lithium-ion batteries housed in approximately 219 above-ground enclosures. Each BESS enclosure would be approximately 19.7 feet long, 7.9 feet wide, and 9.5 feet tall, and would arrive at the Project Site pre-assembled. Each BESS unit would be on pier foundations and would be set on concrete pads and surrounded by a concrete curb. The concrete pads would be surrounded by crushed stone and/or gravel. Each BESS unit would be managed by an integrated cooling and heating system for thermal safety, and contain sensors supporting embedded monitoring and controls, as well as electrical interface equipment, including industry standard breakers for alternating current protection. The Project would also include power conversion systems, medium-voltage transformers on concrete slabs and pier foundations, medium voltage cables, and other electric infrastructure (collectively, the “Collection System”).
The figures below show: (1) the location of the Project Site within the City of Westfield; and (2) the layout of the Project Site (including layout of BESS units, Project Substations, and the Northern Transmission Line and Southern Transmission Line), and the location of the existing Buck Pond Substation.
Figure 1: Project Location.
Figure 2: Project Layout
The Project would occupy approximately 12.1 acres of the 34.9-acre Project Site. The Northern Parcel, which is 23.3 acres in size, would include roughly 140 MW/560 MWh of BESS units that – along with a Project Substation and all other project components/features – would occupy approximately 7.8 acres of the site. The parcels are in an Industrial A (“IA”) zoning district.
The portion of the Project on the Northern Parcel would utilize is currently occupied by a freight trailer storage business. Of the 7.8 acres that the Project would occupy on the Northern Parcel, approximately 6.64 acres are previously developed, and the remaining 1.16 acres would require the removal of existing forested area.
The Southern Parcel, which is 11.6 acres in size, would include approximately 60 MW/240 MWh of BESS units that – along with a second Project Substation and all other project components/features – would occupy approximately 4.3 acres of area. Development of the Project on the Southern Parcel would result in the clearing of approximately 4.3 acres of forested uplands.
The Project would include two new electric substations (“Project Substations”), one on the Northern Parcel and one on the Southern Parcel. Each Project Substation would take the power output from the BESS units and step it up to a transmission voltage of 115 kV, which would allow the power from the Project to interconnect with the existing Buck Pond Substation. The Project Substations would also take the power from the Buck Pond Substation and step it down to allow the BESS to store the power. Each Project Substation would include the substation equipment, graveled yard area, and surrounding security fencing. Project Substation equipment would include a main power transformer, switchgear, circuit breakers, disconnect switches, and
low and high buses.
The Substations’ static masts (which protect substation equipment from lightning) would be up to 65 feet high. The Project would also include two newly constructed underground transmission lines that would connect the BESS to the Buck Pond Substation. The proposed underground transmission line from the Northern Parcel would be roughly 1,800 feet in length, and it would connect the Project Substation on the Northern Parcel with the Project Substation on the Southern Parcel (the “Northern Transmission Line”).
The other proposed underground transmission line would be roughly 600 feet in length, and, via the Southern Parcel Project Substation, this transmission line would connect all of the BESS units in the Project to the Buck Pond Substation (the “Southern Transmission Line”).
All materials in the official docket for the Department’s review of the Westfield ESS LLC battery project can be found in the DPU Fileroom.
Intervention & Participation
Persons or groups who wish to be involved in the Department 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 be filed no later than Friday, December 20, 2024, and must follow the instructions provided below in Filing Instructions.
“Intervenor” or “Party” Status: An intervenor can participate fully in the evidentiary phase of the proceeding, including the right to ask questions during evidentiary hearings, file a brief, and appeal the Department’s Final Order.
“Limited participant” Status: A limited participant receives documents during the proceeding and may file a brief.
A petition to intervene must demonstrate that the petitioner may be substantially and specifically affected by this proceeding. 220 CMR 1.03(1).
See below for filing instructions. For additional information on the Department’s procedural rules, please see the following 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 petition to intervene or participate, and comments, must be filed with the Department in electronic format, by email or email attachment, to dpu.efiling@mass.gov; AND to donna.sharkey@mass.gov no later than the close of business on December 20, 2024. The text of the e-mail must specify: (1) the docket number of the proceeding (D.P.U. 24-151); (2) the name of the person or entity submitting the filing; and (3) a brief description of the document. The electronic filing should also include the name, title, and telephone number of a person to contact in the event of questions about the filing.
Second, the petition or comments must be sent electronically to counsel for the Company: Shane Early, Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, 2099 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20006, searly@sheppardmullin.com.
Public Review of the Company's Petition
A detailed description of the Project is electronically available via the Department’s webpage for the Project. You can access the webpage by scanning the QR code above, or using the link below. In addition, electronic copies of the Petition and attachments have been provided to the City Clerk of the City of Westfield. The Company also maintains a webpage for the Project.
The Company’s webpage provides Project information in English, Spanish, Ukrainian and Russian.
Hard copies of the Company’s petitions, including all attachments, are available for public inspection at the following locations:
• Department of Public Utilities, One South Station, 3rd floor, Boston, MA 02110
• City Clerk, City of Westfield, City Hall, Room 210, 59 Court Street, Westfield, MA 01085
• Westfield Athenaeum, 6 Elm St, Westfield, MA 01085
Accommodation Requests
Reasonable accommodations for people 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, 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 (7 days) advance notice. Last minute requests will be accepted, but we may be unable to fulfill them.
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 by November 20, 2024. It may not be possible to accommodate last-minute requests. Contact the Hearing Officer for more information (contact information below).
Non-Discrimination Notice
The Department complies with applicable state and federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, national origin (including limited English proficiency), gender identity, income, class, disability, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, genetic information, ancestry, or status as a veteran. The Department does not exclude people or treat them differently because of sex, race, color, religion, creed, national origin (including limited English proficiency), gender identity, income, class, disability, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, genetic information, ancestry, or status as a veteran.
See the Department’s Non-Discrimination Notice, please see the following link.
If you have any questions about this notice or any of the Department’s non-discrimination programs, policies, or procedures, you may contact:
Melixza Esenyie - Non-Discrimination Coordinator and Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Human Resources, 9th Floor, 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA 02114, eeadiversity@mass.gov, 617-626-1282.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against with respect to a Department program or activity, you may contact Melixza Esenyie (identified above) to learn how and where to file a complaint of discrimination.
Contact
For further information about the proceeding, please contact the Hearing Officer at the address or telephone number below:
Donna Sharkey, Hearing Officer
Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities
One South Station Boston, MA 02110
617-305-3625
donna.sharkey@mass.gov
| Last updated: | March 31, 2025 |
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