Solar permitting — Franklin County, Massachusetts
On file: local news, known opposition groups.
W MA; Greenfield (Montserrat/Greenfield CC) area; Connecticut River valley; active solar in agricultural areas. Permitting: Municipal Planning Board: Special Permit or variance. Track record: 7 SMART Program projects totaling 61 MW i…
Key driver: W MA; Greenfield (Montserrat/Greenfield CC) area; Connecticut River valley; active solar in agricultural areas; EFSB >25 MW; 2024 Climate Act
Permitting process
Local permitting pathway
Municipal Planning Board: Special Permit or variance (≤25 MW). EFSB master permit for >25 MW.
Setbacks & buffers
None codified at county level. Municipal bylaws govern ≤25 MW; EFSB review for >25 MW. — NOTE: the distances above are a STATE-level fallback, not a figure read from this county's own ordinance. We hold siting-rule records for this county which may include a stricter local limit we have not yet extracted. Verify against the county's own ordinance before relying on these.
Spacing requirements
None codified.
Size restrictions
None codified.
Penalties & bonding
No penalties or adjustments. Standard CUP/SUP process.
State-level permits & approvals
2024 Massachusetts Climate Act (signed Nov 21, 2024): historic reform of siting and permitting. Large projects (>25 MW generation or >100 MWh storage): Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) consolidates state and local review into single master permit; 15-month deadline for EFSB decision. Small projects (≤25 MW / ≤100 MWh): municipalities retain permitting authority under new streamlined process (225 CMR 29.00 promulgated Feb 27, 2026; effective immediately). 12-month deadline for municipal decisions on small clean energy projects. MGL Ch.40A §3 (Massachusetts Zoning Act): zoning ordinances cannot prohibit or unreasonably regulate solar energy systems — long-standing solar protection for sub-threshold projects. DOER site suitability scoring framework; community benefit plan requirements for larger projects. ISO-NE interconnection required statewide.
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State policy & grid context
State RPS & clean energy policy
40% by 2030 + 80% Clean Peak / net-zero by 2050 | Act Creating Next-Gen Roadmap for MA Climate Policy (2021) | G.L. c.25A §11F
State incentive programs
MA SMART Program (Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target): production incentive paid per kWh generated for 10 years for projects ≤5 MW; administered by DOER/utilities. Adder rates for low-income housing, brownfields, rooftops, and agrivoltaic projects. Net metering: available statewide (up to 5 MW for behind-the-meter); MA expanded net metering cap via DPU. MA RPS: 40% renewable by 2030 (Class I); Class I solar carve-out drives SREC value. MA Clean Energy Center MassSave: rebates for commercial/industrial efficiency and solar. Utility: Eversource (NSTAR/WMECo) and National Grid serve most counties; Cape Light Compact serves Barnstable and Dukes; various municipal aggregations active.
Grid & interconnection
ISO-NE / West/Central Massachusetts (WCMA) zone — Eversource / National Grid
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Battery storage (BESS) P1 Town Bylaws Adopted
Town-zoned (no county land-use authority). Active towns: Wendell, Northfield, Shutesbury, Whately, Montague. Tracked storage projects on file. Requirements referenced: NFPA-855, UL9540, tiered review.
BESS ordinances & bylaws
Tracked storage projects
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County-level battery-storage status, safety requirements, and projects — each linked to a primary source.
Town & municipal bylaws
- CharlemontSolar — Charlemont's zoning bylaws include solar energy provisions. Ground-mounted accessory solar is capped at 10 acres in most zones (or 5 acres in the Route 2 Scenic District)
- DeerfieldSolar — Deerfield's Chapter 179, Section 3800 regulates solar energy systems at multiple scales. Small-scale ground-mounted residential systems up to 660 sq ft are permitted by r
- ErvingBESS — Erving's 2023 Zoning Bylaw (Article 230-7.0) includes energy storage standards within the large-scale solar provisions: all Energy Storage Systems must comply with NFPA 8
- ErvingSolar — Erving's 2023 Zoning Bylaw (Article 230-7.0, adopted June 28, 2023) regulates large-scale ground-mounted solar photovoltaic installations. Parcels of 20 or more contiguou
- Franklin CountySolar — Active moratorium in effect. Contact Franklin County Planning for current application status.
- GillBESS — Gill's 2026 Annual Town Meeting (May 4, 2026) unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on development of building-integrated energy storage systems (Article 7 of the wa
- GillData center — Gill's May 4, 2026 Annual Town Meeting unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on data center development (combined with BESS as Article 7). The moratorium runs May 4,
- GillSolar — Gill adopted a Solar Electric Overlay District bylaw at the December 13, 2011 Town Meeting. Solar installations up to 250 kW located within the Overlay District are permi
- MontagueBESS — Zoning bylaw amendment defining 'Battery Energy Storage Facility' and permitting it via Special Permit + Site Plan Approval in the Industrial and Historic-Industrial Dist
- MontagueSolar — Montague's zoning bylaw Section 8.9 governs Solar Energy Installations and Facilities, explicitly excluding them from the 'public utilities' use classification. Decommiss
- NorthfieldBESS — Town Meeting passed a moratorium on BESS as a principal use (through Aug 2025 or adoption of a permanent bylaw) and a parallel moratorium on large-scale ground-mounted so
- NorthfieldSolar — Northfield adopted Section 11.08 (Solar Generation Overlay Zoning Bylaw) at the 2012 Annual Town Meeting after the September 2011 Special Town Meeting authorized the amen
- OrangeBESS — Orange has no standalone BESS zoning bylaw, but Section 7800 explicitly codifies battery storage requirements as part of the solar special permit process: applicants must
- OrangeSolar — Orange Section 7800 permits large-scale ground-mounted solar PV (1.25–35 acres) in all zoning districts by Special Permit from the Planning Board. Required setback is 50
- ShutesburyBESS — Adopted by majority vote at Town Meeting: ESS <1MW allowed by right; 1-10MW requires approval from a new 7-member licensing board; >10MW prohibited outright. AG's office
- ShutesburyData center — Data centers are listed as 'N' (Not Permitted) in all four Shutesbury zoning districts (RR, FC, TC, LW) in the Use Table (§ 3.1-1). Section 8.13 established a parallel te
- ShutesburySolar — Large-scale solar (>1.5 to ≤15 acres) is permitted only in the Forest Conservation (FC) district by Special Permit from the Planning Board; prohibited in all other distri
- SunderlandBESS — Sunderland voters approved a BESS amendment on April 26, 2024 (nearly 90 voters, overwhelmingly approved). Large-scale ground-mounted solar facilities with integrated bat
- SunderlandSolar — Sunderland § 125-V-3 (Article V: Special Regulations) governs Large-Scale Ground-Mounted Solar Electric Installations, defined as those occupying more than 1,000 square f
- WendellBESS — AG's Municipal Law Department disapproved two sections of Wendell's amended zoning bylaw on March 1, 2023, including a provision prohibiting stand-alone BESS facilities i
- WendellBESS — 'General Bylaw for the Licensing of Battery Energy Storage Systems' passed 100-1 at Special Town Meeting. Tiered: <1MW no license; 1-10MW requires new town licensing-boar
- WhatelyBESS — Nov 12, 2025 Special Town Meeting lowered the Aquifer Protection District aggregate-storage-capacity threshold from 300 to 250 kWh and added formal BESS definitions, alig
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Zoning bylaws of the towns that hold siting and voting authority within this county — each linked to the primary document.
Community opposition P1
Organized opposition signals on record for this county — petitions, community groups, and oppositional coverage — each linked to its primary source.
- Greenfield, MA proposes moratorium on data centers Data center
- NAB United / No Assault & Batteries Storage
SitePath maintains the most complete community-opposition dataset available, refreshed continuously from primary sources.
Subscriber intel Subscribers
Researched for this county and available with a subscription:
- Project track record
- Developer intelligence
- Governing board
Energy-related meetings & dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
State PSC dockets P1
No tracked activity yet — coverage expands weekly.
Local news P3
- 2026-08-30 Franklin County Hydropower Month
- 2026-03-31 Pushback: Wendell wages 4-year Home Rule 'battery battle' for the rest of us
- 2026-03-16 Land Court rules against Wendell's battery energy storage bylaw
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