Boston Council Examines Battery Storage Rules as Projects Advance in Multiple Neighborhoods

BOSTON — March 25, 2025 — Boston City Council scrutinizes battery energy storage siting rules as city and state frameworks lag behind active proposals. The Committee on Environmental Justice, Resiliency and Parks, chaired by Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata and featuring lead sponsors Councilor Liz Breadon and Councilor Brian Worrell, held a virtual informational hearing Tuesday on battery energy storage systems, or BESS, with state regulators, fire safety officials, and grid operators testifying alongside city department heads. Undersecretary of Energy Mike Judge told councilors that Massachusetts is legally required to contract for 5,800 megawatts of energy storage — five to 10 times what is currently installed — to meet binding greenhouse gas reduction targets of 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. The 2024 Grid Equity Act sets a 100-megawatt-hour threshold dividing state and local permitting jurisdiction, giving municipalities 12 months to issue permits for smaller facilities; Boston's zoning exemption authority under the new law does not transfer until March 2026. District Fire Chief Keith Kelly acknowledged the department has no standard operating procedures for utility-scale BESS emergencies, saying early involvement in the permitting process is "a tremendous first step." The National Fire Protection Association's Robert Duvall detailed thermal runaway risks and cited a 2019 explosion in Surprise, Arizona, that critically injured four firefighters before key safety standards were in place. City officials said state public health guidance is due by August, with draft regulations expected this summer and fall, as an Eversource BESS proposal in Hyde Park already moves through early community review.