Carpenter Hill Power, Charlton, Massachusetts. 150 MW / 600 MWh battery energy storage at 131 Carpenter Hill Road.
Read it as
Draft for public comment
This is a working draft, published for public comment on September 30, 2026. Comment is open through November 30, 2026. Send comments through the form on carpenterhillpower.com, by email to jsantiago@esa-solar.com, or in person at any fall meeting. We respond to every comment in writing. Words in brackets are decisions that are not made yet.
This draft has [34 decisions] still open. They are highlighted like this throughout, so anyone can count what is not settled yet.
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Part 1 · State template V.A.1
Executive Summary
Carpenter Hill Power is a proposed battery energy storage facility at 131 Carpenter Hill Road in Charlton. This plan sets out what Charlton gets for hosting it, how each item gets checked, and what happens if something slips.
The project in one paragraph
The facility stores electricity from the regional grid and sends it back when the grid needs it. It is rated at 150 megawatts and 600 megawatt hours, enough stored energy to serve up to 120,000 homes for about four hours. The current design uses 136 Tesla Megapack 3 units on a fenced area of about 5 acres or less, inside a 15-acre leased area on a 47-acre parcel, next to the existing Carpenter Hill substation. Construction would take 12 to 18 months. The project is in the state's pre-filing engagement period under 980 CMR 16.00, ahead of an application to the Energy Facilities Siting Board.
What this plan is
Massachusetts siting rules require the project to pursue a community benefits plan with the host community, following the state's Standards and Guidelines for Community Benefit Plans and Agreements. This document is that plan, in draft. It lists the benefits the project proposes for Charlton, where each one came from, and the terms that make it checkable.
It is not the permit, and it does not replace the studies, permit conditions, and mitigation the project has to deliver whether or not this plan exists. Those are listed separately at the end of Part 3 and are not counted as benefits. It is also not a signed agreement. Whether items in this plan move into a signed agreement between the town and the project is a decision the town and the project make together, with review by the Select Board and the Town Administrator. The state siting board gives due weight to a plan developed with the community, and the state's guidance encourages signed agreements that include remedies for non-performance. Where a card gives a job to a town board or department, that is a proposal. No board has agreed to it, and each one decides whether to take it on.
Four terms that get mixed up, and how this document works
Four terms come up in every conversation about benefits, and they get mixed up. Each one is a different tool, held by different people.
Term
What it is
Who decides
Where it stands for this project
Community Benefits Plan
This document. A plan the project develops with the community under the state siting rules. It lists proposed benefits, where each came from, and the terms that make each one checkable.
The project publishes it. The state siting board gives a plan developed with the community due weight in its decision.
Draft now. Final on November 30, filed with the application.
Community Benefit Agreement, often called a host community agreement
A signed contract between the town and the project that turns items from the plan into enforceable terms, with remedies if the project falls short.
The Select Board and the Town Administrator for the town, and the project owner.
Not yet. Whether to sign one is a decision the town and the project make together.
Payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT
A tax agreement under Massachusetts law that sets fixed payments to the town each year instead of a yearly assessment of the equipment. It is about the town's tax revenue, not about benefits on top of it.
The Select Board and the Board of Assessors for the town, and the project owner, [with Town Meeting approval where the law requires it].
Open. It is one of two instruments in the payments card in Part 3. The other is standard assessment.
Permit conditions
Requirements the state siting board attaches to its decision. Mitigation for the project's own impacts lives here, whether or not anyone negotiates for it.
The siting board.
Set when the permit is decided.
The plan is where ideas get shaped in public. The agreement and the permit are where they get locked. Money for the town can travel by either of two roads: a PILOT or standard taxes for the payment every host town receives, and a signed agreement for the benefits on top. This plan says what is proposed on both roads. The town chooses the vehicles.
How this draft was built
Every priority in this draft traces to something a resident, a town board, a town official, or a state reviewer said on the record between April and September 2026. Two cards are the project's own proposals and are labeled that way. Where the project set a number itself, such as a distance or a number of days, it is a starting point for comment. The record: the state pre-filing consultation on April 9, the Select Board on April 14, the Planning Board and the first Citizen Advisory Committee meeting on June 3, the first public community meeting on July 8, the second committee meeting on August 4, the fire safety webinar on August 19, the state agency consultation on September 4, Old Home Day on September 6, the third committee meeting on September 10, and first conversations with the MassHire workforce board, the regional planning commission, and Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School. Part 2 lists the priorities and where each came from. Part 6 lists every meeting.
The committee spent most of its third meeting, on September 10, working on what the plan should contain. It has not reviewed this text. The draft goes to the committee and to the whole town at the public forum on September 30, when public comment opens and runs through the end of November. A revised draft goes to a public meeting of its own in early November, and a final draft is published when comment closes on November 30. We respond in writing to every comment. We are also asking every town board to review this draft, especially the Planning Board, because many of its terms touch their work.
The burdens this plan responds to
Fire and emergency response. At every public meeting since June 2026, residents have asked whether Charlton Fire has the equipment, training, and water supply to respond to this facility. The plan answers with equipment, training, and a pre-energization check that the Fire Chief controls.
Private wells and groundwater. Charlton's history with groundwater contamination makes this the sharpest concern at every public meeting. The plan answers with baseline and ongoing well testing at the project's cost, and a guarantee if a well is affected.
Trees, land, and habitat. Replanting to offset the project's own clearing is mitigation, not a benefit. The plan answers with conservation funding beyond what mitigation requires.
Construction traffic and roads. Twelve to 18 months of construction traffic on Carpenter Hill Road, with heavy loads concentrated in the site work and delivery phases. The plan answers with a road condition survey, repairs at the project's cost, and a bond that guarantees them.
A fair return for hosting. Committee members said in June that Charlton already hosts more than its share of energy infrastructure, and residents do not see lower electric bills for it. The plan answers with predictable annual payments to the town and with benefits residents can use.
Commitments that last. Residents asked for commitments that survive a sale of the project. Part 4 explains how permit conditions, agreement terms, and the decommissioning bond run with the project to any future owner, and how this plan can only be changed upward.
Benefits are in addition to mitigation
Mitigation offsets the project's own impacts and becomes a permit condition whether or not anyone negotiates for it. Benefits are what Charlton gets on top of that. This plan keeps the two apart so the benefits are not inflated by things the project has to do anyway.
The floor rule
Once the town and the project sign an agreement, the money, the years, and the terms in it can go up. They cannot go down. The money is set as a rate for each megawatt the project builds, so the town's deal holds if the size of the project changes. Until an agreement is signed, the floor is the structure of this plan: its categories, its review process, and its remedies. Everything above that floor, including which programs the money funds and who delivers them, stays open to change every year through the public review in Part 4. A plan that can be quietly weakened is worth nothing, and a plan that cannot change stops fitting the town. The floor rule is how this plan does both.
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Part 2 · State template V.A.2
Identified Community Priorities
Every priority below was raised by a resident, a committee member, a town board, or a state reviewer. Priorities are inputs to this plan, not commitments. Part 3 shows which ones became commitments and what shape they took.
Priority
Who raised it, and when
Where it landed
Fire equipment, training, and water supply for Charlton Fire
Planning Board on June 3. Committee meeting 1 on June 3. Public meeting 1 on July 8. Committee meeting 2 on August 4. Fire safety webinar on August 19. Committee meeting 3 on September 10.
Fire readiness card, Part 3. The Emergency Action Plan itself is required mitigation.
Private well testing and groundwater protection
Public meeting 1 on July 8. Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Well protection card, Part 3.
Tree replanting, conservation, and habitat
Committee meeting 1 on June 3. Public meeting 1 on July 8. Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Conservation card, Part 3. Replanting to offset clearing is required mitigation.
Predictable payments to the town
Planning Board on June 3. Committee meeting 1 on June 3. Public meeting 1 on July 8.
Payments card, Part 3.
A senior and community center
Committee meetings 1 and 2.
Senior and community center card, Part 3.
Local hiring, local trades, and vocational education
Committee meeting 1 on June 3. Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Local hiring and training cards, Part 3.
Roads: truck traffic, soil compaction, and bonding for damage
Public meeting 1 on July 8.
Roads card, Part 3.
Protections for close neighbors: screening, monitoring, property value
Public meeting 1 on July 8.
Neighbor protections card, Part 3.
Accessible recreation, including a fully accessible park and playground
Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Accessible recreation card, Part 3. Raised, not yet shaped.
Historic preservation of town-owned sites
Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Historic preservation card, Part 3. Raised, not yet shaped.
A structured post-construction review
Committee meeting 1 on June 3.
Post-construction review card, Part 3.
Commitments that are binding and survive a sale
Public meeting 1 on July 8. Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Part 4: how commitments become binding, and what survives a sale.
Better notice and outreach
Committee meeting 2 on August 4.
Already a tracked commitment: a month's mailed notice before public meetings. Part 4 carries it forward, and the liaison card in Part 3 builds on it.
Electric bills and the cumulative burden of hosting
Committee meeting 1 on June 3. Public meeting 1 on July 8.
An open question for the committee in Part 3, under Environmental Justice and Equity.
Benefits that start before construction
Committee meeting 3 on September 10.
Partly answered. The conservation contribution is paid when construction starts. Everything else in this draft starts at construction or later, and that is open for comment.
The size of the decommissioning bond, and whether it covers full removal
Committee meeting 3 on September 10.
Required mitigation, listed at the end of Part 3. The bond covers full removal and restoration. The amount is not set yet.
Town water extended to the site for firefighting, and a liner under the site to catch firefighting runoff
Fire safety webinar on August 19, second session.
The liner is answered by required mitigation: capturing firefighting water on site, listed at the end of Part 3. Town water is not in this draft. The fire water supply is planned with the Fire Chief in the Emergency Action Plan, and whether a water main belongs in this plan is open for comment.
Local control: the town's own limits on battery storage, and a state process that does not go through local zoning
Planning Board on June 3.
Outside what this plan can change. State law sets the permit process. The town can take part in the state review, and taking part in this plan does not give up that right or signal support.
How the priorities map to the state's four categories
The state groups community benefits into four categories. Not every category applies to every project, and the guidance says so. Here is where the priorities land.
Category
Priorities that land here
Infrastructure and Community Support
Fire readiness, the senior and community center, roads, accessible recreation, historic preservation.
Environmental and Public Health Protection
Well protection, the conservation fund, neighbor protections, the post-construction review.
Economic Development and Workforce
Payments to the town, local hiring and trades, training slots for students.
Environmental Justice and Equity
Nothing raised by residents yet. Part 3 explains the gap, offers two project proposals, and puts one question to the committee.
What already changed because of this input
Tree clearing outside the transmission right-of-way is capped at 10 acres. The project added a third public meeting beyond the two the state requires, moved abutter conversations to run alongside the agency meetings, and committed to a month's mailed notice before public meetings after the July mailer went out late. Every question from July 8 got a written answer. Separately, the design moved from 156 units to 136 when newer equipment became available. That was a newer model from the same supplier, and it happens to shrink the footprint; it was not a response to a request, and we do not count it here.
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Part 3 · State template V.A.3
Benefit Commitments
This is the core of the plan. Each commitment answers the same questions: what changes and for whom, how anyone checks, when and for how long, who decides how it is used, where the money comes from, and what happens if it slips. Words in brackets are decisions the committee and the town still have to make.
How to read a card
The first four questions are how the plan applies the SMARTIE standard the project committed to in April: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, inclusive, and equitable. The fifth question, what happens if it slips, is there because the committee asked for it in June. Every card also states its funding source, which the project committed to on August 4. Each card carries a status: worked with the committee, drafted by the project from the record, raised but not yet shaped, or proposed by the project.
Three kinds of card
Cards marked Benefit are things Charlton gets on top of what the project has to do. Cards marked Protection go beyond required mitigation but exist because of the project's own impacts, such as road repair and well testing. Cards marked Accountability are structures that keep the rest of the plan honest. All three are commitments. The plan labels them so nobody mistakes one for another.
Category
Infrastructure and Community Support
Physical and social infrastructure the community needs, such as roads, emergency services, and community facilities.
This is where most of what Charlton has asked for lands: readiness for Charlton Fire, a senior and community center, the roads construction will use, and two priorities raised on August 4 that still need their shape.
For: Charlton Fire Department, and the mutual aid departments it calls on.
What changes, and for whom. Before the facility is first energized, Charlton Fire has the equipment the Chief identifies in the Emergency Action Plan for a battery storage response, and every shift has completed training specific to this facility. Every year the facility operates, the department gets refresher training and an equipment and training allowance of [amount to be set], so readiness keeps up as staff and equipment change.
For: Charlton seniors, and the residents who use a community center, through the Council on Aging.
What changes, and for whom. The town's senior and community center project receives a capital contribution of [amount to be set] from the project. The Council on Aging receives [amount to be set] every year the facility operates to run programs it chooses. The example the committee worked through on August 4 was one part-time program coordinator, twenty hours a week, every year the project operates, with the Council on Aging deciding the programming.
Roads: repair what construction damages, guaranteed by a bond
For: Everyone who drives Carpenter Hill Road and the truck route agreed with the town.
What changes, and for whom. Carpenter Hill Road and the truck route agreed with the town come out of construction in the condition they went in, or better, at the project's cost. Truck routes and hours are set with the town before the first heavy load.
3.4BenefitRaised, not yet shaped
A fully accessible park and playground
For: Charlton families, and residents with disabilities.
What changes, and for whom. A contribution of [an amount to be set] toward a fully accessible park and playground, at a site the town chooses.
3.5BenefitRaised, not yet shaped
Historic preservation of town-owned sites
For: Charlton's town-owned historic sites, and the groups that care for them.
What changes, and for whom. An annual grant of [an amount to be set], every year the facility operates, for preservation work on town-owned historic sites.
Category
Environmental and Public Health Protection
Conservation and restoration, pollution prevention, monitoring, and protection of the people closest to the facility.
Private wells and trees are the two concerns raised at every public meeting. The cards here go past what the permits require. What the permits require is listed at the end of this part and is not counted.
3.6ProtectionDrafted from the record
Private well testing and a well protection guarantee
For: Every household with a private well within 1,000 feet of the project's work limit, whether or not the well is in the state's records. Also the wells downhill of the site on T. Hall Road, which our first drainage screen identified, and any other well the Board of Health identifies as downgradient.
What changes, and for whom. Every eligible private well is tested at the project's cost before construction, so each household has a baseline it owns. Testing repeats once during construction and once within 12 months after construction ends. After that, wells are tested again whenever there is an incident on the site, blasting near a well, or a request from the Board of Health. If a test shows a change linked to the site, the project pays for bottled water within 48 hours and for treatment or a replacement well.
For: Charlton's forests and wildlife habitat, and the land trusts that protect them.
What changes, and for whom. The project funds land conservation or habitat restoration in Charlton beyond what it must do to offset its own clearing. It pays a one-time contribution of [an amount to be set] when construction starts, so the partner has money on hand when land comes up for sale, and an annual stewardship payment of [an amount to be set] from commercial operation for [a term of years to be set]. Both go to a conservation partner to protect, restore, and care for land in Charlton, including meadow and old farmland habitat as well as forest.
For: The households closest to the site, within 1,000 feet of the project's work limit.
What changes, and for whom. Neighbors closest to the site get three things. A say in the screening plan before it is final. Sound checked at their property line after the facility starts operating, against the sound study and the state limit. And a property value protection program: if a home within 1,000 feet of the project's work limit sells for less than an independent appraisal says it is worth without the facility, the project pays the difference up to [a per-property cap], for five years after commercial operation. The program does not cover the home of the landowner who leases the site to the project.
For: The town's departments, and the residents who live with the facility.
What changes, and for whom. Twelve months after commercial operation, and again at five and ten years, the town and the project review how the facility is performing against what this plan and the permits promised: sound at the property lines, stormwater, well results, road condition, emergency drills, and every commitment in this plan. The review report is public.
Category
Economic Development and Workforce
Local jobs, support for local businesses, training, payments to the town, and long-term economic opportunity.
The town's payment terms sit here because that is where the state's guidance puts them. No dollar figure appears in this draft. The project's tax research is not finished, and the amount is the town's to negotiate.
What changes, and for whom. The town receives a predictable payment every year the facility operates, in an amount the town and the project owner negotiate, so the town can plan around it instead of guessing at an assessment each year. [Amount, term, and any escalator to be set.]
For: Charlton residents and contractors first, then the surrounding towns.
What changes, and for whom. Construction work goes first to people and firms from Charlton and nearby. The construction contractor posts every open position and subcontract locally before advertising more widely, and the project sets a target of [a share to be set] of construction labor hours from Charlton and the rest of Worcester County.
3.12BenefitDrafted from the record
Paid training slots for local students
For: Charlton students interested in electrical, energy, and trades work.
What changes, and for whom. [A number of paid internship or training slots to be set] each year, during construction and the first five years of operation, for students from Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School, and from Shepherd Hill Regional High School if it chooses to join, in the trades the facility uses.
Category with an open question
Environmental Justice and Equity
Addressing past harms, reducing burdens, sharing decisions, and making sure the people most affected get first access to benefits.
Nothing raised by residents lands here yet. On August 4 the committee was asked whether something belongs in this category, or whether the plan should say why it does not apply. Two things from the record come close: committee members said in June that Charlton hosts more than its share of energy infrastructure without seeing lower electric bills, and residents asked in August for better notice and real two-way communication. The state's guidance lists examples for this category: a compensated advisory committee with a standing role, a named local liaison, and programs that lower energy costs in the host town. The two cards below are the project's proposals for the first two. The third is put to the committee as a question, not a card: [would energy efficiency or heating upgrades for income-qualified Charlton households belong here?]. Nobody has asked for it, so the plan does not propose it.
3.13AccountabilityProposed by the project
The Citizen Advisory Committee continues for the life of the facility
For: Charlton residents who want a standing seat at the table.
What changes, and for whom. The committee keeps meeting after the permit: quarterly during construction, and at least once a year in operation, with the annual review in Part 4 as its standing job. Membership stays open to anyone who accepts the responsibilities in the charter. [Members are compensated for their time, which the state's guidance names as an example of an equity benefit.]
3.14AccountabilityProposed by the project
A named community liaison from now through operations
For: Anyone in Charlton with a question, a concern, or a complaint about the project.
What changes, and for whom. One named person, with a phone number and an email address posted on the website, is responsible for answering. Concerns get a response within 10 business days. Safety concerns about something happening on the site get a same-day response through a separate line. Translation and interpretation are available on request.
Required mitigation, not counted as a benefit
The project has to do all of the following whether or not this plan exists. They are tracked on the public Commitment Tracker so residents can see them, and they are listed here so the line between mitigation and benefit is visible. None of them is part of the floor.
The Emergency Action Plan with Charlton Fire
Required under NFPA 855 through the state fire code. The depth of the collaboration is ours; the plan is not optional. Tracked.
Capturing firefighting water on site
Required under NFPA 855 through the state fire code. The state's draft baseline standard for battery storage points to the same NFPA 855 requirement. Tracked.
Post-construction runoff held at today's rate
State stormwater standards cap it. The basin layout is design-pending; the outcome is not. Tracked.
Erosion controls through construction
Required by the construction stormwater permit. Tracked.
Replanting to offset the acres cleared
Mitigation for the project's own clearing. Expected as a permit condition. Anything beyond it is the conservation card above.
Sound within the state limit at the property line and the nearest home
The state's guidance sets the limit at 10 decibels above background. The sound study is required for the filing. Tracked.
Restricted access to the site
A required baseline. Round-the-clock cameras and vehicle barriers in the current design go beyond it. Tracked.
Grounding and surge protection
Code requires it. The NFPA 780 system in the current design is standard practice. Tracked.
A traffic management plan filed with the town
Standard practice and a near-certain permit condition. The road bond above is the guarantee on top of it. Tracked.
A decommissioning bond posted before construction
A standard permit condition. It secures full removal and restoration no matter who owns the project, and it is separate from this plan's floor. Tracked.
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Part 4 · State template V.A.4
Monitoring and Accountability Framework
This plan runs for as long as the facility does. It is built to change, under two rules: the floor cannot drop, and everything above the floor is open. This part says how progress gets checked, how anyone proposes a change, who decides, and what happens when something slips.
The floor
The floor is set when the town and the project sign an agreement. It is the rate the project pays each year for each megawatt it builds, [rate to be set], the number of years the payments continue, [term to be set], the share committed to each category if the plan sets shares, and every other term in that agreement. A rate for each megawatt means the town's deal holds if the size of the project changes. Until an agreement is signed, the floor is the structure of this plan: its categories, its review process, and its remedies. Once set, the floor can be raised or extended. It cannot be reduced, narrowed, delayed, or made conditional on something new. Commitments that law or a permit already requires are not part of the floor and are not counted as benefits.
What can change
Which specific programs the money funds.
How much goes to each program.
Who delivers a program.
The schedule of spending inside the committed term.
What we measure and report.
Anything new the town or residents want added.
The annual review
Every year, for the life of the facility, there is a public review. At least 30 days before the review meeting, we publish a written report covering the year. It says what was delivered, with the numbers. It says what was missed, with the reason. It says what we propose to change for the coming year, and why. The meeting is open to everyone, held in Charlton, in the evening, in a place people can get to. The Citizen Advisory Committee runs its part of the agenda, and anyone can speak. Within 30 days after the meeting, we publish the decisions, including which proposed changes were adopted, which were not, and why. The community liaison prepares the report and owns the schedule.
Reviews that happen off the annual schedule
A commitment misses its deadline.
A change to the project changes its impacts on the town.
25 or more Charlton residents ask for one in writing.
The Town Administrator, the Select Board, or the Planning Board asks for one.
The Citizen Advisory Committee asks for one.
A post-construction review finding is not fixed by its date.
How anyone proposes a change
Anyone can propose a change to this plan, at any committee or public meeting, by email to jsantiago@esa-solar.com, through the form on carpenterhillpower.com, or in writing to Carpenter Hill Power, 1135 Townpark Ave, Suite 2125, Lake Mary, FL 32746. You do not have to be a committee member, a town official, or an abutter. In return, we publish your proposal on the site within 10 business days, in your words and without your name if you prefer. We answer in writing within 30 days, and the answer says yes, no, or that we need more time and by when. We do not answer a proposal by ignoring it. When the answer is no, the reason is published, and the proposal stays on the record for the next review to pick up.
Who decides
The town and the project decide together whether a proposed change is adopted. The Select Board and the Town Administrator review changes on the town's side, and any town board can weigh in, especially the Planning Board. The Citizen Advisory Committee advises and does not negotiate on the town's behalf, which matches its charter. Three things are fixed no matter who decides: no change takes effect before it is published, the committee sees and comments on any proposed change before it takes effect, and a change that drops below the floor is not available to either side.
When we miss something
Missing a commitment is not handled by dropping it. When a commitment misses its deadline, we say so in the next quarterly update rather than waiting for the annual review. We publish why. We publish a new date. The commitment carries forward at full value, so a year we underspend does not become a year we keep the difference. If a commitment turns out to be impossible rather than late, we say that plainly, and its value goes back into the plan for the community to redirect through the process above. It does not disappear.
How progress gets reported between reviews
The Commitment Tracker at carpenterhillpower.com shows every commitment, its current status, and a link to the proof. It is updated as things move, not once a year.
A quarterly update goes out by email and is posted on the site. Everyone on the email list already gets one; this plan keeps it going through construction and operations.
The annual report described above.
Meeting notes for every committee and public meeting, posted after the meeting.
Reports and the plan itself are published in plain language. Translation is available on request, and the request line is listed on every report. Spanish and Portuguese are offered by default.
How to raise a concern or a complaint
Raising a concern is separate from proposing a change, and it is faster. The community liaison card in Part 3 sets the terms: a named person, a response within 10 business days, a same-day response on a separate line for anything happening on the site right now, and a public summary of concerns and response times every quarter. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can take it to the committee, the Town Administrator, or the state siting board, and we do not treat any of those as going around us.
How commitments become binding, and what survives a sale
Three things carry commitments past the people who made them. Permit conditions the siting board attaches to its decision. Terms in any agreement the town and the project sign. And the decommissioning bond the owner posts before construction. All three run with the project, so whoever buys it inherits them. We expect to sell the project before construction, and we have said so since April, which is why writing things down properly matters more here than it would if we were going to operate the site ourselves.
Whether items in this plan move into a signed agreement is a decision for the town and the project together, with review by the Select Board and the Town Administrator. The state's guidance encourages signed agreements and says they should include remedies for non-performance, such as escrow releases or financial penalties. Where a card in Part 3 proposes a remedy, it is a proposal for that negotiation, not a promise of the town's signature.
Construction, operation, and decommissioning
The review process runs through all three phases. During construction, reviews happen quarterly instead of annually, because that is the phase where the town feels the most disruption and the most needs adjusting quickly. During operation, the review is annual, with the post-construction review card adding a deeper look at one, five, and ten years. Before decommissioning begins, the plan gets a full review covering what happens to any commitments still running and what the site becomes. Decommissioning funding is secured separately through the bond and is not part of the floor.
Every version stays published
When a version of this plan is replaced, the old one stays readable, with the date it changed and the reason. The history is the proof that the floor never moved down.
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Part 5 · State template V.A.5
Sustainability and Long-Term Impact
The most useful benefits are the ones still working in year fifteen. This part says how the plan keeps benefits alive for the life of the facility and how it adapts without weakening.
Recurring over one-time
Where the committee has a choice, this draft leans toward annual commitments over single payments. An annual line item is visible every year and builds a working relationship between the town and the owner. A single payment disappears into one fiscal year. The agreements from other towns in the Document Library show both patterns, and the recurring ones are the ones residents can still point to years later.
Life-of-facility terms
The fire allowance, the program support, the committee, the liaison, and the review cycle are written to run for the operating life of the facility, not for a fixed number of years, unless the town prefers a term. Repowering the facility with new equipment extends its life and extends these terms with it. Decommissioning ends them, after the full review described in Part 4.
A community fund
[Open question for the committee: whether the annual amounts in this plan are paid into a single fund the town holds, with the Council on Aging, the Historical Commission, the conservation partner, and Charlton Fire drawing on it under rules the town sets, or paid to each recipient directly. A single fund is simpler to check and easier to redirect at the annual review. Direct payments are simpler for each recipient to plan around.] The state's guidance does not require a trust fund or endowment, and this draft does not propose one, but the committee can.
Adapting without weakening
The floor rule and the annual review work together. The floor is what the town can count on. The review is how the town changes everything above it as Charlton's needs change. Charlton's needs twenty years from now will not be Charlton's needs today, and a plan that cannot move will stop being useful long before the facility stops operating.
Passing stewardship on
The state's guidance asks that community oversight not depend on a few people. The committee's membership is open, its roster is public, and anyone who accepts the responsibilities in the charter can join at any time. [Open for the committee: whether it wants a rotating chair, and whether it wants to reserve seats for younger residents.]
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Part 6 · State template V.A.6
Appendices
The record behind this draft. Everything here is already public on carpenterhillpower.com, and the links go to the live versions.
State reviewers set the engagement standard: language access, a project location map, a third public meeting beyond the two required, and a public log of what we heard and what we did.
The first priorities: a senior center, payments to the town, tree mitigation and conservation, local labor, and a post-construction review. Charlton Fire took part.
Wells and groundwater, fire response, trees, construction traffic, binding commitments, and protections for neighbors. Every question got a written answer.
Well testing, fire readiness, long-term financial accountability, the five questions, and the first commitment card. New priorities: accessible recreation, historic preservation, and habitat.
A first conversation about connecting local trades and workers to construction and operations jobs. MassHire introduced us to Bay Path. Nothing decided.
Study requests from MassDEP, the MEPA Office, Natural Heritage, and Siting Board staff, including a siting and design alternatives analysis and 2070 stormwater design. All added to the study plan.
September 5, 2026Coming
Kitchen table talks with Carpenter Hill Road neighbors
Postponed. These sit-down conversations did not take place on September 5. We will contact each household to set a new time and post the date.
An introductory call about opening the project to students in the trades programs. First step agreed: we list the credentials the project needs, Bay Path matches them to coursework.
The committee's first working session on this draft, with the Fire Chief and local conservation, historic preservation, and economic development groups. New asks: habitat diversity beyond forest, a stewardship fund and ready money for land purchases, benefits that start before construction, and the size of the decommissioning bond.
September 30, 2026
Public forum at Dexter Hall, 12:30 to 1:30 PM and 6:30 to 8:00 PM
The draft went public and the comment period opened. Comment runs through November 30, and the results from both sessions are posted in October.
October 2026Coming
Forum results posted
Results from both forum sessions, with every paper ballot counted. Comment stays open through November 30, and we respond to every comment in writing.
Early November 2026Coming
Public meeting on a revised draft
Reflecting comments received in October.
November 30, 2026Coming
Public comment closes, and a final draft is published
Before the state filing is prepared.
B. Documents this plan rests on
The Commitment Tracker: every promise made in public, its status, and its proof. carpenterhillpower.com/commitments
The Engagement Log: every meeting, what we heard, and what we did. carpenterhillpower.com/engagement-log
The Document Library, including the state's Standards and Guidelines for Community Benefit Plans and Agreements, the minutes of the committee meetings, and the agreements other towns reached with battery projects: the signed Medway and Carver agreements, the Tewksbury agreement (that project was withdrawn in September 2026), the Revere agreements as approved by its city council, and the Chelsea council order. carpenterhillpower.com/documents
How We Follow the Siting Rules: the 980 CMR 16.00 checklist with the project's status on each item. carpenterhillpower.com/siting-rules
The Community Engagement Plan filed with state reviewers in April 2026, and the project location map they asked for.
The Citizen Advisory Committee charter, published with the September 10 meeting materials.
C. Glossary
Battery energy storage system, or BESS
Large batteries that charge from the grid when power is plentiful and send it back when the grid needs it.
Energy Facilities Siting Board, or EFSB
The state board that decides whether the project gets its permit under the 2024 Climate Act's consolidated permit process.
Office of Environmental Justice and Equity, or OEJE
The state office whose Standards and Guidelines set the template this plan follows.
Community Benefits Plan
This document: the benefits the project proposes for Charlton, and the terms that make them checkable. The state requires the project to pursue one.
Community Benefit Agreement, or host community agreement
A signed contract between the town and the project that turns plan items into enforceable terms. Whether to sign one is a decision for the town and the project together.
Payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT
An agreement under Massachusetts law that sets fixed annual payments to the town instead of a yearly assessment.
Commercial operation
The date the facility starts operating for the grid. Several commitments count from it.
Energization
The date the facility is first connected and carrying power, before commercial operation. The fire readiness card keys off it.
Mitigation
Work that offsets the project's own impacts, such as replanting or stormwater controls. It becomes a permit condition whether or not anyone negotiates for it, and it is not a benefit.
SMARTIE
The state's standard for a commitment: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound, inclusive, and equitable.
Pre-filing period
The engagement period under 980 CMR 16.00 that runs before the project applies to the siting board. This plan is written during it.
Decommissioning bond
Money the owner sets aside before construction so the site gets cleared and restored at the end of the facility's life, whoever owns it by then.
Escrow
Money held by a third party and released only when an agreed condition is met. Several cards propose it as the remedy if a payment slips.
Abutter
A property owner whose land touches or sits close to the project parcel.
Citizen Advisory Committee
The open, voluntary committee of Charlton residents that shapes this plan. Its charter is published with its roster.
The floor
The rate, years, and terms that can go up and cannot go down once the town and the project sign an agreement. Until then, the structure of this plan.
D. How to read the brackets
Text in square brackets is a decision that is not made yet. Some belong to the committee, some to the town, and some to the project. The reading version of this plan highlights every one of them, so anyone can count what is still open. When a bracket closes, the change and the reason are logged, the same way every design change has been.
Questions about this draft
Jonathan Santiago, Development Associate, ESA Solar. jsantiago@esa-solar.com or 407-232-7440 ext. 251. Translation, interpretation, or another accommodation is available on request.
