Dear Responsible Solar Ally,
Three bills in the legislature that would help us a lot regarding retaining some local control of energy siting. We urge you to take the following actions this week:
Please contact your State Representative and Senator, found here, and call to say or send an e-mail:
“Please co-sponsor H. 2312, H.4685 and H.4689”. Give your name and town. Simple.
Here’s some background:
- H. 2312 An Act regarding municipal zoning powers deletes language from the Massachusetts Zoning Act that has effectively taken away local control of solar and battery siting.
- H.4689 An Act establishing buffer zones for battery storage facilities allows for 2,000 to 3,000 foot buffer zones to protect people and the environment when batteries storage systems (BESS) are built. Right now the state is limiting setbacks to 50 or 75 feet for BESS under 100 MegaWatts (MW) , and the state agencies will decide for you related to BESS over 100 MW with no explicit setbacks in their regulations.
- H.4695 An Act requiring local approval for battery storage facility permitting will give the power to towns to approve battery siting and standards. Right now the state is making rules for towns to follow for BESS under 100 MW, and will have sole authority for BESS over 100 MW.
Background
https://www.mass.gov/info-
DOER on January 21, 2026 published updated draft guidelines.
As a reminder of who we are:
Responsible Solar MA is a grassroots group focused on solar siting issues in Massachusetts. Our goal is to build a network and share information with individuals and other groups who are concerned about what is happening in our communities, in the state, and beyond. Working together, we can navigate this quickly-changing area and ensure that solar siting is done appropriately and with a positive result for climate, the environment and human health and safety.
We invite you to:
Explore our website and encourage others to join our mailing list for occasional news updates and invitations to educational forums. (link to join is on the home page)
Click HERE to join our Google Group.
This is an important way to share information with others who have solar siting concerns. There’s a lot of knowledge among this group about effective methods to ensure appropriate solar siting. Let’s help each other with information.
Thank you for all that you do.
Janet Sinclair
Jill Buchanan
Katherine Harrelson
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