Community Engagement Log
The public archive documenting every meeting, question asked, and concrete design change made in response to Charlton community feedback.
The Public Record: Engagement Timeline
Every meeting, pop-up, workshop, and consultation documented. Read summaries of what the community asked and the actions we took to respond.
OEJE / DPP Pre-Filing Engagement Consultation
Official kick-off meeting with the Office of Environmental Justice and Equity (OEJE) and Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to review compliance under 980 CMR 16.00 and gather feedback on the community engagement strategy.
What We Heard
- •Linguistic accessibility: outreach documents and website must support English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
- •Zoning overlay and developer business model transparency: explain the project transfer/sale expectations upfront.
- •Tree clearing: clarify the upper limit of clearing (expected ~10 acres) and protect heritage trees.
- •Site map detail: provide a comprehensive site map showing component boundaries and landmarks within a 1-mile radius.
- •Recommendation to hold additional sessions beyond the two mandatory public meetings, including smaller topic-specific formats that allow deeper conversation.
What We Did
- •Launched a multilingual website language switcher (English, Spanish, Portuguese) and fixed accessibility/accordion bugs.
- •Drafted explicit disclosures about the developer transition plan (reassuring that all permit conditions and CBA commitments run with the land).
- •Clarified that the current design expects to clear 10 acres or less of forested land.
- •Published a detailed interactive site boundary map and compiled a complete local/state permitting agency checklist.
- •Committed to hosting three public community meetings, one more than the state requires, and added a dedicated fire safety webinar as a topic-specific session.
Attached Media & Documents:
Charlton Select Board Meeting
Project introduction and community engagement plan presentation to the Select Board, outlining the proposed 150 MW BESS facility at 131 Carpenter Hill Road.
What We Heard
- •Concern from Planning Board Alternate Laurie Degnan regarding voter mandates limiting BESS projects to 5 MW and the state's consolidated EFSB process bypassing local zoning.
- •Concern over clearing forested land (up to 10 acres of the just over 47-acre BESS parcel) and removing topsoil.
- •Question about whether the town can opt out of state mandates if it already produces more than twice the solar energy it consumes.
- •Concern regarding the cumulative impacts of adjacent projects combining grid connections under EFSB rules without starting reviews from scratch.
- •Concern over historic local environmental burdens such as water contamination, with the town not qualifying for 'burdened community' scoring benefits under EFSB rules.
- •Questions regarding the developer's corporate domicile and how Charlton was selected for this project.
- •Public request to make presentation materials available to the community.
What We Did
- •Explained that the 2024 local zoning overlay petition was withdrawn to align with the Planning Board's timeline and wait for EFSB rules to be finalized.
- •Committed to co-creating a Charlton-specific Community Benefits Plan (CBP) and scorecard with a local Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC).
- •Clarified that the Sturbridge Road Storage project is not currently proceeding with a filing.
- •Explained that Charlton is strategically positioned near a major East-West transmission line to meet rising Springfield and Boston electric loads.
- •Committed to sharing the digital presentation slides with the Town Administrator to post publicly on the town's website.
Attached Media & Documents:
Annual Town Meeting Outreach Pop-up
We had a great time at the Annual Town Meeting! We spoke with residents before and after, picked up some signatures, and got a few people interested in learning more and joining the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC). We also connected with Fire Chief Barton, who is open to joining the CAC, and got to chat with Planning Board Chairman Bill Fontaine, who is looking forward to meeting with us in a few weeks. We also stopped by the landowner's house, and he will be attending our upcoming meetings. Our first CAC meeting is set for the first week of June, and we will be meeting with the Planning Board as well. Stay tuned!
What We Heard
- •Interest from several residents in learning more about the project and joining the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC).
- •Fire Chief Rob Barton expressed openness to joining the CAC to collaborate on safety planning.
- •Planning Board Chairman Bill Fontaine looking forward to meeting with the project team in a few weeks.
- •Local landowner confirmed they will attend upcoming meetings.
What We Did
- •Spoke with residents before and after the meeting, answered early questions, and collected signatures of interest.
- •Coordinated with Chief Barton, Chairman Fontaine, and the local landowner to prepare for upcoming sessions.
- •Scheduled the inaugural Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting for the first week of June.
Attached Media & Documents:
Inaugural Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting
Inaugural meeting of the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) with 12 attendees, including Charlton Fire representatives and community stakeholders, to establish operational expectations and review technical details.
What We Heard
- •Concerns regarding cumulative clean energy hosting burdens (the need for state-wide equitable siting) and lack of local utility rate savings.
- •Preference for a signed, binding Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) that travels with the project rather than a non-binding Community Benefit Plan (CBP).
- •Safety questions regarding emergency response capabilities, NFPA 855 standards, and thermal runaway protocols.
- •Priorities for local benefit plans: Senior Center funding, PILOT structures, tree mitigation, local labor, and post-construction reviews.
What We Did
- •Clarified that the fenced BESS equipment area will be about 5 acres or less, with total clearing of no more than 10 acres of the just over 47-acre parcel, and committed to website updates.
- •Committed to co-creating a Charlton-specific Community Benefits Plan (CBP) and scorecard with the CAC.
- •Published the official meeting minutes in the online Document Library.
- •Confirmed the public fire safety webinar (now set for August 19). The second CAC meeting was planned for early July, then moved so the first public community meeting could happen first, based on Planning Board feedback on June 3. It is now set for Tuesday, August 4, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.
Attached Media & Documents:
Charlton Planning Board Meeting
Presentation to the Charlton Planning Board and open community discussion focusing on regional energy transmission, safety systems, water protection, and benefits planning.
What We Heard
- •Questions regarding potential private well and waterway contamination, and requests for environmental safeguard reports.
- •Safety concerns about thermal runaway containment, smoke chemical compounds, and local emergency response capability.
- •Clarification on the developer's experience with BESS project operations and long-term ownership transitions.
- •Inquiries about decommissioning bonds to ensure equipment removal and land restoration.
- •Discussion on the financial difference between standard taxation and negotiating a PILOT host agreement.
What We Did
- •Directed residents to carpenterhillpower.com for public access to all hydrological, acoustic, and environmental studies as they are completed.
- •Committed to developing a community-specific Emergency Action Plan (EAP) under NFPA 855 in collaboration with Charlton Fire.
- •Clarified that all battery systems will be UL-certified and backed by a legally binding decommissioning bond that transfers to future owners.
- •Discussed how negotiated payment terms, such as a PILOT, could provide greater and more predictable annual revenue than standard tax assessments, with specific figures to be confirmed through further research.
Attached Media & Documents:
Meeting with Town Administrator Andrew Golas
Meeting with Charlton Town Administrator Andrew Golas, the day after the first Citizen Advisory Committee meeting and the Planning Board presentation. We reviewed where the project stands and the upcoming engagement schedule, and talked through how our team will keep town staff informed through the pre-filing period.
Town Directors Briefing at Town Hall
On the morning of the first public community meeting, our team briefed Charlton town department directors at Town Hall. We walked through the site plan map, took questions from town staff, and previewed the materials residents would see that evening.
Attached Media & Documents:
Public Community Meeting #1
First open public community meeting. Project introduction presentation followed by an open Q&A session.
What We Heard
- •Severe concern over private well contamination, especially given Charlton's history with Exxon Mobil groundwater contamination.
- •Questions about fire safety, chemical toxicity of smoke plumes, and emergency response water supplies.
- •Frustration regarding the state EFSB consolidated permitting process bypassing local zoning decisions.
- •Concerns about 10 acres of tree clearing, hum from cooling fans, and proximity to Cady Brook and the nature preserve.
- •Concerns regarding heavy construction truck traffic and soil compaction during the 18-month construction period.
- •Desire for legally binding commitments in the Community Benefit Agreement that run with the project even if sold.
- •Inquiries about rate increases, local blackout protection, and why the town should host another power facility.
- •Demands for site design flexibility, specifically footprint adjustments, spacing, and system selection changes.
What We Did
- •Clarified that we designed site grading to direct runoff away from homes into a catchment swale and that state rules prohibit increasing water discharge.
- •Committed to conducting safety plume modeling, presenting detailed safety analyses at the August 19 webinar, and planning emergency water needs directly with the Fire Chief.
- •Explained that the pre-filing period is the community's best opportunity to shape the project's design, with benefit topics worked out through the Community Benefits Plan.
- •Committed to replanting programs and conservation partnerships to offset tree clearing, and pledged to publish sound study hum results soon.
- •Committed to following strict erosion controls, silt fencing, and cover cropping, and coordinating construction truck routing and timing with the town.
- •Explained that permit conditions and the decommissioning bond carry to future owners of the asset, along with any terms the town and the project put into a signed agreement.
- •Explained that the BESS stabilizes the grid, pushes peak market rates down, and generates negotiated PILOT funding rather than local household backup.
- •Demonstrated flexibility by reducing the proposed layout from 156 to 136 units, and committed to making summer design adjustments before the October queue deadline.
- •Committed to hosting a booth at Old Home Day on the Town Common on September 6, where residents can meet the team, ask questions, and weigh in on the Community Benefits Plan.
Second Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting
Second meeting of the Citizen Advisory Committee, held by Zoom on August 4, 2026. About 20 residents took part, along with a member of the Charlton Planning Board. The session covered private well and groundwater protection, fire department readiness, long-term financial accountability, and priorities for the Community Benefits Plan.
What We Heard
- •Concern about how much influence residents have in the review process, and whether the committee is a substantive part of project design or a formality.
- •Frustration over late notice for the July public meeting mailer.
- •Requests for baseline and ongoing private well testing, and a clear answer on who pays and how quickly if a well is affected.
- •Questions about site groundwater and soil conditions and how they will be protected during construction and operation.
- •Concerns about Charlton Fire Department staffing, equipment, and training needed to respond to the facility.
- •Questions about backup power for cooling and fire suppression during a grid outage.
- •Requests for long-term financial protection, including bonds, insurance, and funding for equipment replacement and eventual decommissioning.
- •Preference for a legally binding agreement over a non-binding plan, and questions about what happens to commitments if the project is sold.
- •Community Benefits Plan ideas, including a senior and community center, land conservation, habitat diversity, and accessible recreation space.
- •Requests for agreements and operating data from comparable battery storage projects in other communities.
What We Did
- •Acknowledged the late mailer for the July meeting, took responsibility for the error, and committed to mailed notice at least a month ahead of the next public meeting, through multiple channels.
- •Confirmed that the committee and additional public meetings are voluntary engagement beyond what state rules require, and pointed to the reduction from 156 to 136 units as a direct result of earlier public feedback.
- •Walked through support for a senior and community center as a working example of how a committee priority becomes a specific, funded, and enforceable item in the Community Benefits Plan.
- •Confirmed that firefighting water will be captured on an impermeable surface so it cannot reach groundwater, with runoff also captured along the site's southern boundary.
- •Disclosed that soil conditions in parts of the parcel include groundwater close to the surface, described planned containment measures including liners and stormwater systems, and set a MassDEP meeting for the end of August on groundwater, well locations, stormwater, and erosion control.
- •Continued building the Emergency Action Plan with the Charlton Fire Department, with an independent third-party reviewer to be selected by the town and paid for by the project.
- •Confirmed the fire safety webinar for August 19, covering equipment, training, backup power, and site safety.
- •Described the standard industry response to a battery fire as defensive: disconnect the affected equipment electrically, protect the surrounding area, and monitor air quality, rather than sending firefighters directly into a damaged unit.
- •Added a comparable host-community PILOT agreement to the public document library.
- •Confirmed that every item in the draft Community Benefits Plan will state its funding source and enforcement method, with the draft published this fall for public comment.
Attached Media & Documents:
Meeting with the MassHire Central Region Workforce Board
A first conversation with Executive Director Jeffrey Turgeon of the MassHire Central Region Workforce Board about connecting local trades and workers to jobs during construction and operation. MassHire also introduced us to Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School. Nothing has been decided.
Attached Media & Documents:
Fire Safety Webinar
A dedicated public webinar on fire safety, thermal runaway, and emergency response, presented by third-party fire safety consultant Jim McDowall, who helped write portions of the NFPA guidance for battery storage systems. Hosted twice on the same day so more residents could attend: Session 1 at 12:00 PM and Session 2 at 7:00 PM.
What We Heard
- •A request in the second session that town water be extended to the site so firefighters have a water supply there.
- •A request in the second session for a liner under the project site that would catch any runoff from water used in a fire response.
What We Did
- •Capturing firefighting water on site is a tracked commitment and is required under the state fire code. The current design uses a continuous concrete foundation and a lined drainage swale. The final details get set in the engineering plans.
- •The fire water supply is being planned with the Fire Chief in the Emergency Action Plan. Extending town water to the site is not in the design or in the draft Community Benefits Plan. We listed the request in the draft plan, and it is open for comment through November 30.
Attached Media & Documents:
Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) Briefing
A briefing by Zoom for CMRPC's land use and zoning staff, at our request. We walked through the project and the draft Community Benefits Plan. CMRPC is helping its member towns prepare for the new state siting process and is drafting battery storage ordinances that towns across the region can adopt.
Attached Media & Documents:
Consultation with State Permitting Agencies
A virtual meeting convened by the state's Division of Public Participation, as required under 980 CMR 16.06 before we file. Staff from the Energy Facilities Siting Board, the MEPA Office, MassDEP, and the state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program attended. We presented the project, the site and its natural resources, the permits we expect to need, and our early site suitability and cumulative impact work, then asked each agency what studies it wants to see.
What We Heard
- •MassDEP asked us to file a formal wetland delineation during design. It also asked where replacement batteries would go in the future and how fire crews would reach the site to fight a wildfire.
- •The Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program asked for a formal information request on rare species, signed by the landowner or the project.
- •The MEPA Office asked for an analysis of siting and design options that would shrink the footprint and the tree clearing, and for stormwater systems designed for the larger storms expected by 2070. It said it does not expect this project on its own to require MEPA review.
- •Siting Board staff asked about a more direct power line route south across the same landowner's property, and about the risk of rising grid connection costs.
What We Did
- •Added the wetland delineation, the rare species information request, the siting and design alternatives analysis, and the 2070 stormwater design to our study plan.
- •Asked the MEPA Office to confirm its position on MEPA review in writing.
- •Continued consultations with the other state agencies on our list this fall.
Tabling at Old Home Day
Our team staffed a booth at Charlton's Old Home Day on the Town Common. Residents came by in the rain to ask questions, look at project maps, and pick up the mailer for the September 30 Community Public Forum. We also left stacks of the mailer with a Planning Board member and with community groups tabling nearby.
Attached Media & Documents:
Meeting with Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School
An introductory call by Zoom with Bay Path staff about opening the project to students in the school's trades programs. We agreed on a first step: we will list the credentials the project will need, and Bay Path will match them to its coursework. We see Bay Path as a natural fit for the Community Benefits Plan. Nothing has been decided.
Attached Media & Documents:
Third Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) Meeting
Third meeting of the Citizen Advisory Committee, held by Zoom on September 10, 2026. A smaller group took part, including the Charlton Fire Chief and people from local historic preservation, land conservation, and economic development groups. We recapped the work since August, gave a short overview of the project, and compared benefit agreements from other Massachusetts battery projects. Most of the meeting was a working session on the Community Benefits Plan.
What We Heard
- •Land conservation should protect habitat diversity, including old farmland and meadows, not only forest. Birds such as kestrels, bobolinks, and meadowlarks are declining in the region.
- •A suggestion for an ongoing stewardship fund that pays to care for conserved land over time, plus money on hand so the town can act quickly when land comes up for sale.
- •Specific conservation opportunities near existing protected land in Charlton.
- •An update on the town's search for a Senior Center site, including the options the Select Board has reviewed.
- •Concern that benefits would not reach residents until construction starts, which is years away.
- •Questions about the size of the decommissioning bond and whether it covers removing all equipment and restoring the site.
- •Questions about how many workers will be on site once the facility is running, and what keeps people off the site.
- •Whether Charlton's town boards are making sure the bond, staffing, and site access are built into the plan.
What We Did
- •Explained the difference between a PILOT tax agreement, a host community agreement, and the Community Benefits Plan. Whether to sign an agreement is a decision for the town and the project owner together.
- •Confirmed that the project will be sold to a long-term owner-operator, and that the state requires a decommissioning bond before construction begins. The bond amount has not been set yet.
- •Explained that on-site staff are mostly present during construction. Once running, the site has maintenance visits, a private gated access road, and access for local fire and emergency services.
- •Said we will apply to ISO New England in October 2026 and expect to file with the state in the first half of 2027.
- •Agreed that the gap between the plan and construction is a real problem, and said we will look at when payments start as the plan terms firm up.
- •Shared that our preliminary sound modeling uses data for the older Megapack 2 XL. We are waiting on Tesla for Megapack 3 data and will update the results when it arrives.
- •Agreed that we need more participation from town boards.
- •Began checking whether Charlton groups qualify for the state's Intervenor Support Grant.
Attached Media & Documents:
The Question Archive
Every question submitted through this site, asked at public hearings, or logged during workshops is published here with our official, binding response.