Tewksbury neighbors are gearing up for what they see as a last-ditch fight to stop a proposed 125-megawatt lithium-ion battery storage facility on a small industrial lot off Hillman Street. On Tuesday, a chartered bus full of residents plans to roll into Boston to press the state Energy Facilities Siting Board as it weighs a staff Tentative Decision on the project. Opponents argue the facility is simply too close to homes, senior housing and schools, and say promises of safeguards do not erase worries about constant noise, toxic fumes or a fire that could be tough to control.
State board meets Tuesday in Boston
According to the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, members will meet in person and virtually at One South Station in Boston on Tuesday to consider the Tentative Decision and take public comment on the Hillman Energy Center petition. The board’s notice says the session will include time for both official parties and everyday residents to speak, and that all docket materials are available online for anyone who wants to dig into the fine print. The notice and docket information are posted on Mass.gov.
Project at a glance
The developer, Hillman Energy Center, describes the proposal as a 125 MW / 500 MWh battery energy storage system on roughly 4.3 acres at 73–75 Hillman Street, with a new substation and an approximately 1,200-foot interconnection to the nearby National Grid substation. The plan calls for above-ground battery cabinets, along with sound and stormwater studies and community outreach efforts as laid out in company filings. Additional details are available on the project’s website and in the developer’s submissions, posted by Hillman Energy Center.
What the host community agreement requires
The town of Tewksbury negotiated a Host Community Agreement that ties the project to a package of financial and safety obligations. That includes a promise of at least $2 million per year in payments, estimated at roughly $40 million over 20 years, and a 1% Community Preservation Act surcharge. The agreement also spells out requirements for on-site inspections and fire-safety testing, an alarm and emergency notification system with backup power, a decommissioning bond between $3 million and $6 million, and fire-protection measures keyed to NFPA standards that could require a dedicated 30,000-gallon water supply. Those provisions are detailed in the town’s executed HCA, available through the Tewksbury Host Community Agreement.
Neighbors say safeguards fall short
For residents living just yards from the site, what looks tidy on paper feels a lot messier on the ground. Neighbors say they are alarmed about the risk of thermal runaway in the battery system, the possibility of off-gassing toxic chemicals during a failure and the prospect of round-the-clock equipment noise. Dawn Sheehan, who is organizing about 40 residents to attend the Siting Board meeting, told the Lowell Sun that “the biggest problem we’re having is the way our town is handling it.” Other neighbors have raised red flags about how quickly older residents in nearby Emerald Court could be evacuated if something goes wrong.
How the state decision works
Under Massachusetts law, Hillman Energy Center filed a petition under G.L. c.40A § 3, docketed as EFSB 25-08, asking the Energy Facilities Siting Board to grant zoning exemptions so the project can move ahead despite local bylaws. That puts the board in the position of weighing local impacts against statewide energy and reliability needs before issuing a final decision. The docket materials and Tentative Decision form the public record the board will rely on in its deliberations, and they are available through Mass.gov.
What's next
At Tuesday’s session, the board may deliberate and vote on the Tentative Decision. If members approve the requested exemptions, the project would move into more detailed permitting and construction phases, subject to whatever conditions the board attaches. Town Manager John Curran told the Lowell Sun that the Host Community Agreement is the town’s strongest tool for protecting public safety, a claim opponents say they intend to challenge directly in front of state officials.
Every filing, technical report and the town’s HCA is part of the public record in EFSB docket EFSB 25-08, and can be reviewed ahead of or during the Energy Facilities Siting Board meeting by anyone tracking the fate of the Hillman Energy Center battery project.
