Just last fall, the state legislature passed, and Governor Maura Healey signed into law, a bill titled An Act promoting a clean energy grid, advancing equity, and protecting ratepayers, referred to as the 2024 Energy Act. This legislation puts a great emphasis on industrial size battery energy storage systems (BESS) as a part of our state’s energy future. As a result, Massachusetts is ill-prepared for the avalanche of giant battery projects that are about to start hitting around the state, or in some cases, already have. Despite being part of the new law, recent guidance from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is woefully inadequate.

A common industrial battery is 1 MW or 4 MWh, and the batteries in question are each the size of 40-foot tractor trailers. Under the 2024 Energ

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