3rd Citizen Advisory Committee Meeting
Thursday, September 10, 2026 · 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM · Virtual
Welcome
Slide 1 of 22
Citizen Advisory Committee · Meeting 3
What Other Communities Get, and What Charlton Needs
Thursday, September 10, 2026 · 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM · Virtual
Follow along at carpenterhillpower.com/meetings/cac-3
An illustrated aerial view of the site on Carpenter Hill Road.
1 · Welcome · 5 min
How Tonight Works
We are recording: The recording and notes get published on this page, the same way we did for Meeting 2.
Two halves: First half hour: the project itself, for anyone new or wanting the current picture. The hour after: the Community Benefits Plan.
Committee members: Speak by voice. Use raise hand in Zoom and we will call on you.
Everyone else: The chat is your floor. Type at any point. Every comment is captured whether or not we get to it aloud.
The committee charter: We are publishing the charter tonight, and the roster opens with this meeting.
These slides stay at carpenterhillpower.com/meetings/cac-3 before, during, and after tonight. Need translation, interpretation, or another accommodation? Email jsantiago@esa-solar.com or call 407-232-7440 ext. 251.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
Since We Met in August
Seven things since August 4. Hover any card for the detail.
A first conversation with the MassHire Central Region Workforce Board about construction hiring and training. Nothing is decided.
MassHire Workforce Board — Aug 14
Presented twice by fire safety consultant Jim McDowall, who has helped write portions of the NFPA guidance for battery storage systems. Both sessions are recorded and posted in the Document Library.
Fire Safety Webinar — Aug 19
We briefed the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission on the project and the draft Community Benefits Plan. Nothing is decided.
CMRPC Briefing — Aug 25
We presented the project to the state permitting agencies under the pre-filing rules. The slides we used are on the website under Meetings, and several of them are in tonight's deck.
State Agency Consultation — Sept 4
The same week, DPP convened the state permitting agencies for a virtual consultation under 980 CMR 16.06. That is the meeting covered earlier in this deck.
Interagency Consultation — Sept 4
Residents stopped by the Town Common in the rain to ask questions and share what they want in the plan.
Old Home Day Booth — Sept 6
A conversation this week with Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School about construction trades training and student placements. Nothing is decided.
Bay Path Regional Vocational — Sept 8
The full record of each of these is linked from the Document Library and the Engagement Log.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
Why Charlton?
The substation was here first. The 345 kV backbone and the region's 115 kV lines have met at Carpenter Hill since 1967, between the loads at Springfield and Worcester. A battery has to sit where the grid can take the power, and this is one of the places it can.
- Line voltage
- 550 kV+
- 310 to 549 kV
- 220 to 309 kV
- 132 to 219 kV
- 52 to 131 kV
- 25 to 51 kV
- 10 to 24 kV
- Under 10 kV
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
What Is Being Proposed
The facility charges from the regional grid and sends power back when the grid needs it. 150 megawatts and 600 megawatt hours: enough stored energy to serve up to 120,000 homes for about four hours. Nothing is burned on site. It is not a data center.
Rendering of the current design. Not a survey.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
What a Megapack 3 Is
The current design uses 136 Tesla Megapack 3 units, each a self-contained cabinet about the size of a shipping container, standing in rows on a gravel pad.
About 28 × 6 × 9 ft. Shipping weight 86,000 lb per unit.
Lithium iron phosphate cells, liquid cooled, sealed outdoor enclosure. Designed to meet UL 9540A.
Nothing burned on site. Transformer oil in secondary containment.
Medium-voltage transformers and switchgear connect to the gen-tie. Spacing per NFPA 855.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
What the Safety Data Shows
EPRI tracks every known grid-scale battery failure in the world. This is the same data covered at the August 19 fire safety webinar.
No US fatalities on record. The nearest event, a single cabinet in Douglas, Massachusetts this August, stayed contained with no injuries.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
The State's Six Suitability Criteria
The state's mapping tool scores every proposed site on six criteria, 0 to 5 (0 is most suitable). Anticipated scores from the July 17, 2026 run. None is final.
Social and environmental burdens
Host block group MassEnviroScreen score of 80.9. Cannot be changed by design.
4.0
Carbon sequestration and storage
Forest covers most of the parcel. Expected to move on the re-run.
3.7
Biodiversity
Mapped rare species habitat comes within a foot of the boundary without overlapping.
2.9
Agricultural resources
Every cell returned zero. A small farmland soil clip at the gen-tie is being re-checked.
0.0
Climate change resilience
Tool has no page for this criterion. Charlton is 35 miles inland, FEMA Zone X.
Protected open space
The nearest protected open space is 373 feet from the site.
Scale: 0.0 most suitable to 5.0 least suitable; climate resilience to 3.0. July 17, 2026 tool run. These criteria already reshaped the project: 156 to 136 units, clearing capped at about 10 acres, rare-species habitat edge treated as a no-disturbance line.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
What the Cumulative Impact Analysis Shows
The Facility Boundary, the one-mile Specific Geographical Area, and the block groups it intersects, shaded by MassEnviroScreen score. A working draft, not a final finding.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
Why the Block Group Scores 80.9
Pre-existing environmental effects: cleanup sites, groundwater, hazardous waste, solid waste, impaired water (5)
Chronic disease prevalence: asthma, heart disease, COPD, cancer, premature mortality (6)
Climate risk: wildfire, flood (2)
Socioeconomic factors: adults without a diploma, poverty (2)
Regional air quality: fine particulate matter, shared across central Massachusetts (1)
The host block group and the MassDEP features that sit behind its environmental effects score.
2 · The project, in thirty minutes · 25 min
Six constraints, in the maps that show them
Every layer the state's screening tools name, one map per constraint. Click any map to open it full screen.
What is on the ground today
Forest covers 82 percent of the parcel and 99 percent of the leased work area.
Site soils and the equipment pad
76 percent of the pad sits on the parcel's only poorly drained soil.
The catchment draining onto the pad
45.6 acres of hillside drain onto the pad, so run-on has to be diverted around any containment.
Slope against the draft 27 percent standard
The pad avoids the steepest ground, but 0.11 acre still exceeds the draft limit.
Recorded wells: depth, bedrock and water level
Neighbors draw water from deep bedrock wells, and the rock sits far deeper than the statewide model says.
Protected open space and mapped habitat
No protected open space touches the parcel; the nearest sits 0.17 mile away.
3 · What other communities are getting · 15 min
How Other Towns Got Paid, and What Is Different Here
Other towns used one or two instruments. Charlton is on a third path that did not exist for any of them.
Payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT)
- What it is
- A negotiated yearly payment replacing the property tax on the equipment, fixed for a term, usually 20 years.
- Who signs
- The Select Board, after Town Meeting authorizes it.
- What the town gets
- A predictable number to budget around, not an assessment that drops as equipment ages.
Host community agreement
- What it is
- A contract covering everything outside tax: fire funding, property value protection, review costs, reporting.
- Who signs
- The town and the project. Whether to sign one is their decision.
- What the town gets
- Terms it can enforce as a contract, with remedies written in.
Community Benefits Plan
- What it is
- The plan state siting rules require before filing, in four benefit categories.
- Who decides
- The siting board gives a developed plan, or a signed agreement, due weight, and can make commitments into permit conditions.
- What is different
- Every town on the next slide negotiated under the old rules. Here the plan is required, and it is being built in public.
A plan and an agreement are not either-or. The plan is required. Whether some of it also goes into a signed agreement with the town is a town and project decision, not something the state mandates.
3 · What other communities are getting · 15 min
Six Massachusetts Battery Projects, Side by Side
Every figure from a public agreement in our Document Library except Everett (press report). Payments are 20-year averages, tax plus recurring benefits.
| Town and project | Size | Payments to the town, per year | Per MW, per year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medway · Medway Grid | 250 MW / 500 MWh, 2-hour | $2.24M tax plus 3% Community Preservation adder. Benefits adds ~$20k/yr for emergency preparedness. | about $9,300 | Operating |
| Carver · Cranberry Point | 150 MW / 300 MWh, 2-hour | $1.69M flat for 20 years ($33.8M total). No separate benefits agreement. | about $11,300 | Operating |
| Chelsea · Energizar | 250 MW / 1,000 MWh, 4-hour | ~$1.55M tax ($31M over 20 years) plus $584k/yr for workforce development. | about $8,500 | Building |
| Revere · Revolution | 200 MW / about 800 MWh, 4-hour | $1.5M–$1.62M tax plus $600k–$646k benefits. First year goes to fire apparatus. | about $10,900 | Approved 2026 |
| Tewksbury · Hillman | 125 MW / about 500 MWh, 4-hour | $2M floor plus 1% Community Preservation adder, plus $3.8M benefits (mostly one-time). Withdrawn Sept 2026 after interconnection costs rose from ~$15M to ~$65M. | about $17,700 floor | Withdrawn Sept 2026 |
| Everett · Trimount | 700 MW / 2,800 MWh, 4-hour | ≥$2.5M/yr (press report). Benefits agreement not yet signed. | at least $3,600 | Reported |
Sizes, hours of storage, and permitting rules all differ from Charlton, so no row carries over as a number. The structure does. All of these documents are in the Document Library under Other Towns' Agreements.
3 · What other communities are getting · 15 min
The Same Deals, Per Megawatt
Dividing by size is the fairest way to compare a 125 MW project with a 700 MW one. Charlton's project is 150 MW, in the middle of this range.
Combined payments to the town per megawatt, per year, 20-year average
Tewksbury · Hillman
125 MW; project withdrawn Sept 2026
$17,700Carver · Cranberry Point
150 MW, tax agreement only
$11,300Revere · Revolution
200 MW, tax plus benefits agreement
$10,900Medway · Medway Grid
250 MW, tax plus benefits agreement
$9,300Chelsea · Energizar
250 MW, tax plus benefits agreement
$8,500Everett · Trimountpress report only
700 MW
≥ $3,600
Per-megawatt is a way to compare, not a formula. Larger projects pay less per megawatt. [At 150 MW these rates would produce roughly $1.3M–$2.7M a year. Arithmetic on other towns' agreements, not a proposal. The amount is Charlton's to negotiate.]
3 · What other communities are getting · 15 min
What the Agreements Actually Contain
The dollar figures differ. The structure repeats. Six things show up in agreement after agreement.
Fire department funding
Yearly money for training, equipment, and materials, and training delivered to the department by the battery supplier.
Property value protection
A radius of 300–650 ft, a $25k cap per property, a funded reserve, and a filing window.
Independent town review
Funding so the town can hire its own technical and financial reviewers instead of relying on the applicant's.
Decommissioning security
A bond that names the town as the beneficiary, so removal is funded no matter who owns the project by then.
Public reporting
Reports to the Select Board on a set schedule, in public, for the life of the agreement.
Workforce and hiring
Job training funding, and hiring terms written into the text rather than said out loud.
One warning from reading these. In one city, the labor and school commitments people remembered from the news were never in the signed agreement. If it matters, it has to be in the document.
Recurring money outlasts one-time money. A yearly line item is still there in year fifteen.
4 · What we have heard from you · 8 min
What Charlton Has Told Us, by Category
Sorted into the state's four benefit categories. Priorities are inputs, not commitments.
| Priority | Where it came from | Where it stands | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infrastructure and Community Support | |||
| Fire equipment, training, and water supply | Planning Board, committee meetings, July 8, webinar | Emergency plan and fire water capture committed. Funding is a plan topic. | Plan topic |
| A senior and community center | Committee meetings 1 and 2 | Shaped August 4. Tied to the town's feasibility committee. | Plan topic |
| Roads: truck routes, damage, a bond | July 8 | Truck routes committed. The bond is a plan topic. | Plan topic |
| An accessible park and playground; historic town-owned sites | August 4 | Named, not yet shaped. | Raised |
| Environmental and Public Health Protection | |||
| Private wells and groundwater | July 8, Aug 4, website | Groundwater monitoring committed. Well guarantee is a plan topic. | Plan topic |
| Trees, conservation, habitat restoration | June 3, July 8, Aug 4, website | Clearing capped at 10 acres. Conservation fund is a plan topic. | Plan topic |
| Close neighbors: screening, noise, night sky, property value | July 8, website | Plan topic, with post-construction review raised June 3. | Plan topic |
| Economic Development and Workforce | |||
| Predictable annual payments to the town | Planning Board, June 3, July 8 | Tax research open. No figure yet. | In progress |
| Local hiring, local trades, vocational training, a school STEM lesson | June 3, Aug 4, website | Plan topic. First vocational-technical school conversation Sept 8. | Plan topic |
| Environmental Justice and Equity | |||
| Electric bills and the burden of hosting; the impact analysis responses: training, health, restoration | June 3, July 8, website; tonight's analysis | Open questions for tonight. | Open |
| Better notice, two-way communication, a standing role for this committee | Aug 4, website | Month's mailed notice committed. Standing committee and liaison proposed. | In progress |
5 · Working discussion: what Charlton needs · 30 min
Three Questions for the Next Thirty Minutes
We want to hear what matters most, why, and what it would take to get it right in the plan.
1 · What do you want in the plan?: Of everything on the table, what matters most to you and your neighbors?
2 · Why does it matter?: What problem does it solve, or what opportunity does it create for Charlton?
3 · How should it work?: How should the plan deliver it: who decides, what does it cost, and how does anyone check?
Rough numbers are welcome. A need with a reason and a shape can be written into the draft plan. One without them stays on the list but cannot be drafted yet.
5 · Question 1
What do you want in the Community Benefits Plan, and what matters most?
Look at the priorities table. What belongs at the top? What is missing? If you could put one thing in the plan tonight, what would it be?
Name the item, not the category. Fire equipment, a senior center contribution, well protection, tree replanting, annual payments, job training, something else entirely.
Everything typed in the chat is captured, whether or not we get to it out loud. Anything we miss gets a written answer.
5 · Question 2
Why is that important to Charlton, and what happens if the plan leaves it out?
We need to understand the reason behind each priority so the plan makes the case, not just the list. What problem does it solve? What does the town lose if it is not there?
Everything typed in the chat is captured, whether or not we get to it out loud. Anything we miss gets a written answer.
5 · Question 3
How should the plan deliver it: who decides how it is used, what does it cost, and how does anyone check that it happened?
A commitment the plan can draft needs a shape: the funding, the decision-maker, and the measure. Other towns split payments between the general fund, the fire department, and a community-directed fund. What fits here?
One town directs yearly payments to workforce development. Another funds the fire department in year one and the general budget after that. What structure makes sense for Charlton?
Everything typed in the chat is captured, whether or not we get to it out loud. Anything we miss gets a written answer.
6 · Next steps · 7 min
From Tonight to a Finished Plan
To be set
Kitchen table talks. Postponed from September 5. A new date is being worked out with Carpenter Hill Road neighbors.
September 30
Community public forum. Dexter Hall, two sessions: 12:30 to 1:30 PM and 6:30 to 8:00 PM.
October
Draft plan published for public comment. We respond to every comment and show how feedback shaped the final plan.
Early November
Public meeting on the plan. We present the plan before preparing the state filing.
To be set
Committee Meeting 4. Scheduling follows tonight. The roster and charter are on the website.
RSVP for the September 30 forum through the Participate section at carpenterhillpower.com.
6 · Next steps · 7 min
What Happens With Tonight's Input
We publish notes from tonight on this page and in the engagement log.
Every need and every number named tonight feeds the draft Community Benefits Plan published in October.
Questions we cannot answer live get written answers, the same way every earlier meeting has.
Questions after tonight?
Jonathan Santiago
Development Associate
- jsantiago@esa-solar.com
- Phone
- 407-232-7440 ext. 251
- 1135 Townpark Ave, STE 2125Lake Mary, FL 32746
These slides stay online atcarpenterhillpower.com/meetings/cac-3
Slide 1 of 22: What Other Communities Get, and What Charlton Needs
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Joining the Meeting
The meeting runs on Zoom. RSVP by email and we will send you the link to join.
RSVP by EmailNeed translation, interpretation, or another accommodation to participate? Email jsantiago@esa-solar.com or call 407-232-7440 ext. 251 and we will arrange it.
After the Meeting
We take notes throughout the discussion and publish what we heard on this page and in the engagement log, the same way we published answers to every July 8 question. This page stays online as the record of the meeting.