In December 2022, Wendell’s Conservation Commission denied the project a permit due to detrimental effects of noise on wildlife.
Disregarding local authority, in January 2023, New Leaf Energy, Inc. applied to the Mass. Dept. of Public Utilities for exemption from all Wendell zoning bylaws.
and State Energy Legislation
“We need a clean energy revolution. Yesterday.”…
See this June 19, 2024, letter from Senator Jo Comerford on the Mass. State Senate’s major clean energy bill:
Greetings,
On Thursday, the Senate will debate a major clean energy bill, S.2829 — An Act upgrading the grid and protecting ratepayers. You can see the bill here. It advanced out of Ways and Means on Monday and amendments were filed yesterday.
The legislation implements many of the recommendations of Governor Healey’s Commission on Clean Energy Infrastructure Siting and Permitting Commission and begins to address challenges, frustration, and potential for exploitation that many of our towns have experienced when navigating clean energy siting.
Since I first took office, climate change and the environment have been a top focus for our team and I have come to believe the residents of our district are among the most informed and effective advocates on climate change and the environment in the Commonwealth.
We (you and I) have worked together to pass one of the first laws in the country focused specifically on healthy soils. We codified a carbon sequestration goal in statute for the first time. We passed a law to make the stretch energy building code require net-zero emissions buildings. We passed laws to create an electricity grid accountable to public oversight that is ready for and that will facilitate our transition to clean energy and rooftop solar, and to address the single parcel rule that prevented non-homeowners from having equitable access to solar. We led legislation to ensure incentives for pollinator-friendly solar development. We have taken action to end large-scale biomass, and more.
When it comes to siting clean energy infrastructure, my position has been clear:
We need a clean energy revolution. Yesterday. Yet western Massachusetts cannot bear an undue burden for the state’s lack of progress in siting clean energy infrastructure. The state must make a plan for equitably siting clean energy across the Commonwealth that prioritizes siting infrastructure on the built and disturbed environment and that recognizes that local governments know best how and where to site infrastructure within their borders.
It’s clear that the current process is not working as municipalities in our region grapple with their solar bylaws being struck down. And even when their bylaws are approved, developers can pursue exemptions to those bylaws at the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) and the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), where in order to engage effectively one needs to become an Intervenor, which can take years and cost many thousands of dollars in legal fees.
Bolstered by your input, I commented on the Siting and Permitting Commission’s recommendations. You can read my testimony here. … (download full letter here)