HATFIELD — Hatfield planners are beginning a process to modify the town’s zoning bylaws to regulate so-called Battery Energy Storage Systems.
The Planning Board on Jan. 7 spent nearly two hours discussing the possible contents of a bylaw to address these batteries that could be considered by voters at a future Town Meeting, though it appears getting a bylaw before residents in May is unlikely.
Chairwoman Stephanie Slysz said it’s important to have a revised bylaw because the board has already approved solar arrays that could add battery storage, and standalone battery storage systems may also be on the way. Without rules in place, there will be no recourse for a proposal for a mega battery system, she said.
Slysz said having some kind of stop-gap measure could mean Hatfield is not targeted as a community in which there would be no control over a battery project.
Such developments would already be banned on land around the town’s water supply.
Assistant Planner Isbella Yeager explained that a model state bylaw came out in October, drafted by the Department of Energy Resources and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. This could be incorporated into the regulatory language in town.
This model bylaw establishes tiers for batteries, with those generating less than 100 megawatts per hour under town control, but a decision has to be made within 12 months. Those that are larger than 100 megawatts per hour of generating power would be under the scope of the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board.
In the current zoning, which addresses solar projects, there is only reference to “Renewable or Alternative Energy Development Facilities,” which are allowed only in the light industrial and industrial zones in town, with site plan review required.
Yeager said the board could try to ban batteries in the flood plain and water supply protection areas of town, though it’s uncertain if this would get approved by the state attorney general’s office.
The Pioneer Valley Planning Commission also has provided assistance to the town in drafting the bylaw.
Board member Jimmy Tarr said what people will want to know, if there is a public hearing on the zoning revisions, is how these will affect the way of life in town, and might change the look and feel of the community.
Board member Doug Finn said he believes there is time to get a bylaw in place, observing that there will be no immediate developments of acres of batteries.
“Nobody’s building any one of these any time soon because the grid doesn’t have the capacity for it,” Finn said.
Slysz said it’s necessary, but also frustrating to spend significant time on the matter, rather than discussing and approving aspects of the town’s comprehensive plan.