Blandford Select Board Votes to Support Neighboring Town in BESS Fight

BLANDFORD — July 14, 2025 — Blandford Select Board backs neighboring town's fight against battery storage project, confronts its own energy siting limits. The board voted unanimously July 14 to send a letter of support to Oakham ACORNS, a nonprofit opposing a proposed 180-megawatt lithium battery energy storage system in Oakham within the Ware River watershed. Town Administrator Christina Midura warned the board that a November 2024 state law has shifted permitting authority for BESS projects over 100 megawatt hours from local governments to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board, leaving the town's only meaningful recourse as intervener status — a petition that must be filed within 14 days of a project appearing on the state docket. That window has already lapsed for the Eversource substation expansion on North Blandford Road, filed with the DPU on June 24. The board also scheduled a July 28 joint meeting with the Planning Board to fill two vacancies that have left that body unable to reach the two-thirds vote threshold required for special permits, and voted unanimously to approve a $5,000 planning assistance contract with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission for fiscal year 2026.