Map · Parcel In 4 decks Site soils and the equipment pad 76 percent of the equipment pad sits on the parcel's only poorly drained soil
Site conditions Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Diagram · Parcel Hydrogeologic cross-section A to A prime Runoff follows the land surface south to the swamp, while groundwater in the bedrock follows fractures the surface does not predict
Wells and groundwater Written for agencies
Map · One mile In a deck Where water leaving the pad goes Water drains south into a wetland chain, not into Cady Brook
Water and wetlands Written for agencies
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In 4 decks The catchment draining onto the pad 45.6 acres of hillside drain onto the pad today, so the current design routes that clean rainwater around the pad and its containment
Water and wetlands Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Map · One mile In 3 decks Recorded wells: depth to bedrock Bedrock under neighbors' wells starts far deeper than the statewide model says
Wells and groundwater Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Site suitability report
Diagram Contamination pathways and barriers Without barriers, four of the five pathways would run down the same swale toward the swamp 300 feet south, so the current design puts its containment at the pad and along that swale
Water and wetlands Written for agencies
Map · Parcel In a deck What triggers which permit, drawn on the site Every mapped permit trigger sits outside the pad, and only the wetland buffer zone clips the work area
Permitting and regulation Written for agencies
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In 4 decks Slope against the draft 27 percent siting standard The pad avoids the steepest ground, but 0.11 acre of it still exceeds the draft limit
Site conditions Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In a deck Rare species habitat and the work area No physical work falls inside Priority Habitat, but the margin is a few feet
Habitat and open space Written for agencies
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In 2 decks Wetlands, buffer zones and the work area On the current design no mapped wetland is filled, but the 100 foot buffer zone reaches into the work area
Water and wetlands Written for agencies
Used in Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Diagram Permitting schedule to the Board decision The schedule waits on one date that is not set: the month of the Pre-filing Notice, which sets the application date and the 15-month Board clock
Permitting and regulation Written for agencies
Diagram In a deck How the Consolidated Permit folds in the state and local permits One EFSB decision replaces the state and local permits the project would otherwise obtain one by one
Permitting and regulation Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4)
Map · One mile In a deck Where the water goes and where the wells are Rain off the battery pad drains south to a swamp 300 feet away, then down a valley where two T Hall Road wells sit about half a mile away
Water and wetlands Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Regional In 2 decks Regional locus A 345 kV line crosses the parcel next to the Carpenter Hill Substation
Location and context Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In a deck Environmental resources on and near the parcel Mapped rare species habitat crosses the parcel and stops a few feet short of the work area
Site conditions Written for agencies
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Block group In 5 decks The site's block group, its MassEnviroScreen score and what drives it Legacy contamination and impaired streams carry the block group's 80.9, not measured pollution exposure
Community and environmental justice Written for agencies
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Cumulative impact report, Site suitability report
Map · One mile In a deck Wells screened up- and downgradient of the pad Only two of the 69 located wells within a mile have a wellhead downgradient in the pad's own drainage, both on T Hall Road
Wells and groundwater Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Map · Parcel Parcel scale: pad, catchment, flow paths and soils Runoff leaves the pad to the south and reaches a mapped shrub swamp 307 feet away, just off the parcel
Wells and groundwater Internal analysis Read the note first
Map · Parcel In 2 decks The facility boundary for the state suitability tool The facility boundary under 980 CMR 15.00 is 17.29 acres: the leased work area plus the gen-tie right of way and the driveway
Project design Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report, Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In a deck Gen-tie right of way and driveway extents The gen-tie right of way and the driveway add 2.03 acres outside the project area
Project design Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Site suitability report
Map · One mile In 2 decks Project location and landmarks within one mile Twelve verified landmarks lie within one mile, all of them in Charlton
Location and context Written for residents Forum version available
Used in Forum (Sept 30), Cumulative impact report
Map · One mile In a deck Landmarks within one mile (forum version) Twelve landmarks within one mile
Location and context Written for residents Read the note first Forum version of slide 21
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Map · Regional In 2 decks The transmission grid around the site Two 345 kV lines and four 115 kV lines meet at the substation next to the site
Location and context Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Map · One mile In 4 decks Protected open space and mapped habitat within a mile No protected open space touches the parcel, and the nearest sits 0.17 mile away
Habitat and open space Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Map · One mile Public water supply protection areas near the site The nearest public water supply protection area is 2,244 feet from the parcel
Water and wetlands Written for agencies Read the note first
Map · One mile In 4 decks What is on the ground today Forest covers 82 percent of the parcel and 99 percent of the leased work area
Site conditions Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Site suitability report
Map · One mile In a deck Mapped historic and cultural resources No recorded historic property lies on the parcel or the work area
Permitting and regulation Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Site suitability report
Map · One mile In 3 decks The Specific Geographical Area and the Burdened Area it intersects The one-mile Specific Geographical Area intersects one Burdened Area, the block group the whole project sits in
Community and environmental justice Written for agencies Read the note first Forum version available
Used in CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30), Cumulative impact report
Map · One mile In a deck The site is in a Burdened Area (forum version) The project sits inside a Burdened Area
Community and environmental justice Written for residents Read the note first Forum version of slide 27
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Chart In a deck A typical winter day on the grid Power costs least overnight and at midday and most around 8 AM and 6 PM, so a battery can charge and send power back twice in a day
How the grid works Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Chart In a deck Christmas Eve 2022 on the New England grid The grid ran short of backup power from 4:40 to 6:05 PM. By our estimate, a charged 150 MW battery could have filled the first 150 MW of the gap
How the grid works Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Map · One mile In a deck How the land within a mile drains, and where the project sits in it About 59 acres drain onto the project area from the hill above, and water leaving it follows one valley south, toward McIntyre Pond
Water and wetlands Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Two miles In a deck Where the pad drains, where Gillespie Road drains, and the ridge between them An 820 ft ridge stands between the pad and Gillespie Road, and no downhill route goes around it
Location and context Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Chart · Two miles In a deck Elevation from Gillespie Road through the pad to McIntyre Pond The land rises 102 ft toward Gillespie Road and falls away south of the pad
Location and context Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Chart · Regional In a deck Which way the wind blows: ten years at Worcester Regional Airport The wind comes from the west 40 percent of the time. It blows from the site toward Gillespie Road about 10 percent of hours
Location and context Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · One mile In a deck Recorded wells: total depth against the pad's ground level Neighbors' wells reach hundreds of feet below the pad's grade: all 49 located domestic wells with a logged depth bottom out below the pad's ground level
Wells and groundwater Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Site suitability report
Map · Parcel In 2 decks Parcel, leased work area and equipment area The fenced equipment area is about 5 acres, inside a 15 acre leased work area, on a 47 acre parcel
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report, Site suitability report
Diagram In a deck What is not known yet, and when it will be Seven safety questions raised in an October 2026 public comment, the document that answers each one, and the point in the process where it is due
Permitting and regulation Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Chart In a deck What the 34 open decisions are about Of the 34 bracketed decisions in the draft Community Benefits Plan, 23 are about money and 11 are about who decides, which partner, or how it is reported. None is a safety question, because the safety work (the hazard and plume analysis, the Emergency Action Plan, the sound study and the borings) is tracked in the commitments register, not in the plan's brackets
Community Benefits Plan Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Chart · Two miles In a deck What the land does to anything that leaves the pad, stage by stage The pad is 2 percent of the land draining past T Hall Road and 0.2 percent of what drains to McIntyre Pond; more than half the downhill path runs through mapped wetland
Water and wetlands Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Diagram In a deck What reached the environment at real battery fires, by comparability At the grid battery fires where air, soil or water were sampled afterwards, what was found, sorted into outdoor LFP (closest), outdoor NMC (same enclosure) and indoor NMC (not comparable)
Fire and safety Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Diagram · National In a deck US grid battery fires since 2019 with a public record: cells, enclosure, public orders, and what sampling found Nineteen fires in one table: LFP or NMC, outdoor units or a building, no order, roads, shelter or evacuation, and what air and water monitoring reported
Fire and safety Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Chart · National In a deck Shelter and evacuation orders at US battery fires: how often, and how long, by battery type Public orders are the rule once smoke is visible; at outdoor units nearly all ended within a day, and every shelter or evacuation order of two days or more was at an NMC or reported-NMC battery, most of them inside a building
Fire and safety Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · Parcel In a deck Modeled sound sources on the current layout 136 units in 40 rows put the closest property line 185 ft from a Megapack row and the landowner's house 507 ft away
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · One mile In a deck Receptors within one mile and the night-time contours The 15 nearest homes and the 7 nearest sensitive places, about a mile out. In the preliminary night case, not confirmed by a sound engineer, the 40 dBA line, about the level of a quiet rural night, reaches 2,320 feet from the fence
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · Parcel In a deck Night typical case: preliminary screening before any fixes Preliminary screening with a Megapack 2 XL stand-in, not confirmed by a sound engineer: about 59 dBA at the closest property line, 54 at the landowner's house and 48 at the nearest neighbor at night, before mitigation
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · Parcel In a deck Mitigated equipment plus a 20 ft wall, a test case in the preliminary screening In the preliminary screening (Megapack 2 XL stand-in, not confirmed by a sound engineer), a night fan cap, low-noise transformers and a 20 ft wall bring the closest property line to about 51 dBA and the landowner's house to 47, 8 and 7 decibels below the night typical case
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Diagram In a deck Terrain profiles to the four nearest houses In the preliminary screening, two of the four nearest houses have a clear line to the pad and get no terrain screening; the ridge takes about 3 dB off at 133 Carpenter Hill Road and about 9 dB at 124 Carpenter Hill Road
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Cumulative impact report
Map · Parcel Forest cover between the equipment and the nearest houses, and the leaf-on effect Trees in leaf take 1.1 dB off at the landowner's house and up to 9.3 dB behind long stretches of woods, and none of it counts toward compliance
Sound Written for agencies Read the note first
Chart In a deck Batteries in service for every failure, 2018 and 2025 Storage in service grew about 160 times from 2018 to 2025 while failures a year grew 1.4 times, so one failure for every quarter gigawatt-hour became one for every 28
Fire and safety Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Map · Parcel Site elevation, potential streams and wetlands A mapped drainage line that carries water only after rain or snowmelt runs south through the parcel to the wetlands below it, over LiDAR elevation from 180 to 265 metres (about 590 to 870 feet). Desktop terrain analysis, not a field delineation.
Water and wetlands Written for agencies Read the note first
Map · Parcel Preliminary wetland index A potential wetland index from 0 to 1 across the parcel and its surroundings, with the MassDEP wetland inventory outlined
Water and wetlands Written for agencies Read the note first
Render In a deck The current design from above (illustrative rendering) Illustrated aerial view of the current design: the battery area in rows inside a fenced pad in the woods, the site entrance and project substation beside the transmission corridor, and a dashed route to the Carpenter Hill substation across Carpenter Hill Road
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Render In 3 decks The battery yard beside the transmission corridor, from the air (illustrative rendering) A rendering of the battery storage site as currently designed, seen from above the transmission line corridor and looking along it, with the battery pad and its access drive to one side of the corridor
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Agency consultation (Sept 4), CAC Meeting 2, CAC Meeting 3
Render In a deck The battery pad from above, close (illustrative rendering) A rendering of the battery storage site as currently designed, seen from above: rows of battery units on a pad in the woods, the project substation at one corner, and the access drive beside the transmission line corridor
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Render In a deck The site from a distance (illustrative rendering) A rendering of the battery storage site as currently designed, from a distance: the battery yard in the woods beside the transmission line corridor, with forest and fields around it
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Render In 2 decks Tesla Megablock product rendering Megapack 3 units in a row with the integrated medium-voltage transformer and switchgear cabinet
Project design Written for residents Read the note first
Used in CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30)
Map · Regional In 2 decks Night lights and transmission lines, Springfield to Worcester The Carpenter Hill Substation sits between the lights of Springfield and Worcester, on the transmission lines that join them
Location and context Written for residents
Used in CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30)
Map · Regional In a deck Night lights and transmission lines across the Northeast The Northeast grid at night, from Philadelphia and New York to Boston and Maine, with Charlton circled in central Massachusetts
Location and context Written for residents
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Plan sheet · Parcel In a deck Equipment area detail, site plan G101 Two columns of battery units in rows inside a rectangular fence, ringed by a gravel fire lane, with the project substation at the top right where the gen-tie begins
Project design Written for agencies Read the note first
Used in Forum (Sept 30)
Chart In 2 decks Global grid-scale storage deployment and failures (EPRI) Yearly failure incidents worldwide stayed between 6 and 30 a year from 2018 to 2025 while cumulative deployment grew to nearly 700 gigawatt-hours, so the failure rate per deployed gigawatt-hour fell from about 4 to near zero
Fire and safety Written for residents Read the note first
Used in CAC Meeting 3, Forum (Sept 30)