Peabody: Green Communities and Beyond 5/16/24

by Mark Dullea

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re someone who is concerned about the earth’s rising temperature and all of the devastating results of that heat gain: wildfires, many declared out of control, near and far; rising sea levels; unbearable levels of heat where people have always been able to live before; drought conditions; reduced agricultural production; the decline of necessary species, such as bees and other pollinators; and much more.

Here in Peabody, we’re giving credit to the City for joining the ranks of some 300 cities and towns in Massachusetts who have become, over the last dozen or so years, designated Green Communities. That’s a fine accomplishment, and we ought to give credit where credit is due.

But. . . . . . .we can’t stop there. There’s still so much to do at the City level to get us up there with the leaders in municipal climate action. We need a number of official City responses to the situation that we in Peabody, and everyone around the world, have to face and to overcome. Such as: a Declaration of Climate Emergency would be a good start. We need specific goals which quantify How Much, and By What Year. We need someone, knowledgeable of the multiple issues involved – a Sustainability Director of Climate Planning Coordinator – to be employed at the highest levels of City government, and given a staff. We need an officially appointed Citizens Climate Advisory Committee or Task Force as major participants. We need to develop and to officially adopt a broad-based Climate Action Plan, with input from all of Peabody’s elected offices, boards, and authorities. This Plan would hopefully be put together in recognition of the already completed climate plans of our neighboring communities. The Peabody Plan needs to contain clearly stated goals and targets; it needs to have the data needed for sound decision-making and prioritizing; It needs a program of specific efforts to be carried out, along with strategies and funding sources – that sort of thing. A wider array of what city governments around the world have been doing to fight climate change – some going back as far as the early 1990s – can be found on my website: www.climateplanning.city

But all this may take a while to put into place, even if we start early tomorrow.

So here’s something that we can do right away. There is a federal grant program – part of the multi-hundreds-of-billions of dollars Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – called Solar For All (SFA). SFA has just committed $156,000,000 (that’s 156 million) to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. You can read the details at www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/solar-all These funds can go to public, private, and nonprofit entities that submit a winning grant application. The money is to be used for rooftop and other onsite solar installations and for community solar projects. A special emphasis of any proposal needs to be placed on low-to-moderate income, multi-family housing complexes. Battery storage of solar power, and microgrids are not yet specifically included, but advocates for each are currently having discussions with Mass DOER officials to try and add them. I hope this happens. I’m following it closely. Peabody should be actively pursuing a share of this money. Why should we just sit back and let it all go elsewhere?

Over the last few days I’ve been emailing outlines of this proposal to the Mayor, to the members of the City Council’s Committee on Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, to the Peabody Municipal Light Plant, and to the Peabody Housing Authority, which owns and manages over 500 of the type of housing units that are targeted by Solar For All funding. It’s vitally necessary that these 4 entities – Mayor, the Council, PMLP, and the PHA – all sit down together and come up with a plan to bring clean solar power to these and possibly other comparable housing complexes. Among these offices there are enough smart people to figure out how to craft a successful plan and grant application. If asked, I can suggest companies who do this kind of work, who can become involved at the appropriate point in the proceedings. If you believe that’s it’s time for Peabody to put real boots on the ground, climatically speaking, I’m hoping that you see the value of my proposal, and that you’ll do what you can to bring it into the open and move it forward.

I’m Mark Dullea. My wife, Donna Qualters and I live at 8 Longview Way, right opposite Tilly’s Farm. We believe our house was the first in Peabody to install solar panels, way back in 2012. We’ve since removed all of our home’s fossil-fueled heating equipment and appliances, replacing them with heat pumps, electric water heating, and an induction stove. I’m a retired urban planner with a long involvement in renewable energy and, more recently, climate planning at the local government level. I do some climate journalism, mainly for city and regional magazines. I volunteer several hours each week as a kind of climate technical advisor to an organization called Mass. Interfaith Power & Light. MassIPL is a nonprofit that assists churches, dioceses, and various other religious – run entities to decarbonize their building stock and their entire operations. I’ve helped them establish a Geeen Fund, and am working on MassIPL’s own Solar For All program and grant application. Please feel free to contact me with any comments, suggestions, revisions, etc., to the proposal I’m introducing here. 978-314-3301 markd9x9@gmail.com

Lightshift Energy and MMWEC deploy “first-of-its-kind” program for grid-scale battery energy storage in Massachusetts. (Pictured: Lightshift Energy project in Danville, VA) (Photo: Business Wire)

The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company (MMWEC), the Commonwealth’s designated joint action agency for municipal utilities, and Lightshift Energy, an energy storage project developer, owner, and operator, announced a “first-in-kind” program for the industry to deploy the state’s first jointly implemented fleet of grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS).

Lightshift will build up to 50 MW of BESS across MMWEC’s growing utility membership, which represents half of all the municipal utilities in the state, serving nearly 200,000 customers. Lightshift said the partnership could provide over $200 million in cost savings for municipal customers while enabling effective management of generation and load to help the Commonwealth reach its goals of net zero emissions by 2050.

GO DEEPER: Check out the Factor This! energy storage podcast playlist, including episodes on battery storage, long-duration energy storage, gravity storage, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

As part of the agreement, participating utilities within MMWEC’s membership will host one or more Lightshift energy storage projects. The initial wave of projects will commence operations this summer, with four projects already under construction in the towns of Groton, Holden, and Paxton. Late-stage development activities are already underway in the towns of Peabody, Shrewsbury, Wakefield, Chicopee, Ipswich, and Princeton, with mid-stage development activities moving forward in several other communities. Groton and Wakefield projects, among others, will provide backup power to critical infrastructure. The growing portfolio is scheduled to come online throughout 2024 and 2025.

“MMWEC is pleased to partner with Lightshift Energy on this battery energy storage system project,” says MMWEC Chief Executive Officer Ronald C. DeCurzio. “The project demonstrates yet again how the municipal utilities are leading the way in decarbonization in Massachusetts, in alignment with the Commonwealth’s emissions reduction targets.”

Cost-savings will be driven by “peak shaving” activities. Lightshift’s systems will be charged during periods of lower energy consumption and discharged during times of peak energy demand.

“This is a significant milestone for Massachusetts and for the participating utilities which are demonstrating leadership in grid modernization while prioritizing cost reduction for their communities,” said Rory Jones, Lightshift Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “And MMWEC has been pivotal in facilitating this first-in-kind program that other states will look to as a means to achieve major impact through community-based storage, at scale. Our partners in Groton, Holden, and Paxton have demonstrated particular leadership in bringing this program to life.”

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Lightshift will build up to 50 MW of BESS across MMWEC’s utility membership, which represents half of all municipal utilities in the state.

https://www.renewableenergyworld.com/…/first-in…/…

– BCNS/Sudi Smoller – I agree with Commissioner Lazares. We are only trying to get more information. Can’t you see how you come across as being untransparent? Because, when we ask you things, you don’t tell us. And, that has long been the history of our relationship….I’m thrilled that we are involved in the battery project. I feel like you haven’t told anyone about it. The fact that it is one out of 14 communities.…Where exactly is it going? How will it impact Peabody? We haven’t heard any of that. And people want to hear that. And, when you say, send me an email and I’ll email you back, people don’t hear that.

– Commissioner Thomas D’Amato – At the risk of extending this, I get your point. This a cultural change….

-Audience Member – We can’t hear you. Use your microphone.

(D’Amato turns on his microphone and the sound in the room improves, but not on video, because the mics are not connected to the mixer.)

– D’Amato – It’s become a cultural thing. I used to remark that we liked to fly under the radar, great service…(inaudible)… You want us to be more public or higher profile. I don’t know if that can happen overnight. We have a new board; we have more tolerant board members. I understand but we’re not in the business of (inaudible) taking it public. We’re in the business of …(inaudible) service… and in due time, you’ll hear all that. But questions around an empty lot and wanting to know what that is, I don’t know what to say to that.

(referring to a question raised by Stewart Lazares earlier in the meeting.)

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – We want to make sure that you are taking action towards a sustainable future that does not involve greenhouse gasses.

– D’Amato – Yea that’s part of it. That’s not our complete mantra. What’s going on today… is not going to happen overnight….

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – It has to be part of all of our mantras.

– D’Amato – It’s part of our mantra… The federal government is writing checks it can’t cash. It’s part of our mantra. We can’t write checks that we can’t cash. I get it, but it’s not going to happen overnight.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – We have to keep chipping away at it…I think you have the best rates and great service. But, I think your mission statement has to be expanded. In today’s world, it has to be more than that. You have to give leadership to the future on

sustainability…(inaudible)….People are feeling like you’re not telling us the good or the bad.

– D’Amato – I think we’re doing as good as anybody. Do you think we’re not doing a good job?

– Commissioner Tracy Valletti – To Sudi’s point about emailing and people not hearing it because it is internal, can we treat that as correspondence and address it publicly?

-Joe Anastasi, PMLP Director – We can do a number of things but that is one of the reasons why we created and transitioned to the Energy Awareness Forum online – for that exact purpose to contain a list of questions and answers that the public has asked.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – The deadline (on the PMLP website) still says January 21.

– Anastasi – So, it’s out of date. You can still submit a question.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – And then, when will we see the answer? And then, once you publish it after 60 days, where does that answer go?

– Anastasi – Right there on the energy awareness age.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – Well, I can’t seem to find much information on that page. (BCNS checked the page on 3/30 and found the deadline has been updated to: If you ask a question and wish to follow up, please use our Contact Page or call Community Relations at 978-531-5975. https://pmlp.com/229/Energy-Awareness-Forum)

– Anastasi – It’s only because there’s only been two questions asked in two-and-a half ears.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – It’s a bit disheartening when we have to make a deadline and the latest deadline is last January for several months.

– Audience Member – If you don’t answer our questions, then we are really in trouble.

– Anastasi – In my opinion, actions speak louder than words. And, we have made every action in the right direction. If our words are not up to date then we apologize and we’ll be better at that. But, our actions have been unanimously fantastic for the last 50 years and no one is going to make us feel that we haven’t done enough because we’ve done more than almost everyone. We are ahead of the curve.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – And I’ve said you have, but for the one part: lack of public and community engagement. It’s about the future.

– Anastasi – I am very sorry that you feel that way but I disagree that we are not doing enough. I believe we are. I will always try to be better and that’s something that I take on every day of my life. So, we will be better but I don’t accept that we’re not good enough.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – The question that immediately comes to mind: Why are there three pages of public notices in the Weekly News this week from this board and you don’t say one word about it before this meeting or at this meeting. What any of that means,

people don’t understand. (Go to pages 12-14.

– Anastasi – Because a lot goes into those decisions and we barely got it out in time. You’ll find out more information is going to be available tomorrow.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – That’s like saying to me ‘you can see the budget once we pass it.’

– Anastasi – The newspaper article today is about Monday. So it’s not live until Monday.

– D’Amato – Can I add one thing because you have a feeling like we’re not forthcoming or whatnot – not public enough. I have a feeling sometimes like you are looking to trip us up. That we’re under the microscope, that you.. say nice things but it comes across….I can feel that we’re under the microscope with you guys within the last year and a half.

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller = Can I be frank. That’s because…

– Commissioner ? – asks “of 2015A?” (the new 60MW peaker)

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – Because, you don’t share anything with us. You turn off the microphones. The way you treat us and treat public engagement is not very welcoming. So, we’re constantly feeling – we better get there early to make sure the microphones are not

missing again. We better get there early, so we can record this and then people don’t use their microphones so we can’t hear it. It seems no matter what we do, you all are trying to nix it. I’d like to get past that too but that’s been our history since we first found out about the Peabody Peaker. That’s been the history of our interactions. You still have not released your budget. You are publicly elected and you don’t let us see it or talk about it until it’s

been passed?

You ask why we seem to be resisting you? Because other boards don’t do that. They publish their budget. They have a way of communicating. They publish minutes in their entirety, not just a tweaking of the agenda. They record their meetings not necessarily on video but on audio.

– D’Amato – What if everything is the way you wanted and our rates were terrible and our service was terrible? Would that be good?

– BCNS, Sudi Smoller – I’d be here working to address that.

– BCNS: Ron Smoller – Regarding the forum, I truly believe that you are not aware…I’ve sent questions well ahead of what’s shown as the Jan 21 deadline. It’s March 28, there has not been a question posted, including questions that I did send you last September. There should have been a posting in December, it’s a quarterly forum. There should have been answers to questions in December, maybe there weren’t any, mine was before December but it was shortly after. There should been another one (posting) this month, March 21 would be the (traditional) deadline date. It should have been a posting of my questions I submitted before Jan 21. There’s nothing there.

– Anastasi – Every question that has been submitted through the forum is posted on the forum. If you send a question in another fashion it doesn’t …

– BCNS, Ron Smoller – I submitted through the forum, two questions, prior to Jan 21 and they’re still not there. That’s over 60 days. (The two questions, as of 3/30, were not on the update on the Energy Awareness Forum page.)

– Anastasi – I remember seeing them there.

– Audience member – Maybe they are gone now.

– Anastasi – Potentially, that is when we cut over to our new website, maybe.

– BCNS, Ron Smoller – They were meant to be on the Forum…

.Everything I have ever submitted to you ….. I have always followed your rules. I’m always trying to follow all of your rules. I don’t think they’re all great but I get it.

Peabody TV – 8:03 is where BCNS “remarks” begin. Stewart Lazares spoke just prior to 8:03.

Both MMWEC and PMLP officials stated during public meetings that batteries are not a feasible replacement for the proposed plant because batteries are expensive, require more space than is available and would fail to provide adequate reliability to the electric grid.

“MMWEC said that batteries would not work for Peabody because there was not enough room on the site,” said Jane Dye of CHEF, Citizens for Holden’s Energy Future. “Our response was “What? Batteries don’t have to all be in the same place. Spread them around to different MLPs (muncipial light plants).”

That’s what’s happening. Fourteen MMWEC communities, including Peabody, have partnered wiith MMWEC and Delorean Power LLC (Delorean), a Virginia-based, energy storage project developer, owner and operator. The first 5MW battery energy storage facility is planned in Holden Mass.

PMLP’s website includes information about a utility battery storage facility. “Battery Storage reduces our bulk power costs by allowing us to store power when it is cheaper for us to buy (during non-peak times), and then to use the battery to shave the peak which helps to reduce stress on the bulk power system and reduces PMLP’s transmission and capacity costs. This will be a collaborative project with MMWEC, and is targeted to be installed on PMLP’s property at 201 Warren Street Ext.” https://pmlp.com/224/Current-Projects

The resulting shift in energy demand from on-peak to off-peak hours will lead to significant cost and environmental benefits for customers in the 14 communities involved. But, Peabody’s customers will also see a reduction in air pollution since our three oil-and-gas burning peaker plants should run less.

The energy storage project is the first in a series that Delorean has developed with facilitation from MMWEC. In late 2022, Delorean won an exclusive partnership to build similar energy storage projects across the state with many expected to finish construction by the end of 2024.

https://www.salemnews.com/…/article_7e98ab0c-d97c-5ea0…

• Reaffirmation of PMLP Policies

• 2023 MMWEC Voting Representatives

• Joint Council – PMLP and Peabody City Council

• BTM Battery Vote

• 2023 Budget Vote

AGENDA – http://pmlp.com/docs/2023-agendas/pmlc-jan26-2023.pdf

PMLP Current Projects webpage:
http://pmlp.com/current-projects.html

We’ll be answering questions like:
– Who’s who in the regional grid and how do we make sense of the alphabet soup of acronyms?
– What kind of change is needed to unlock a just, transparent clean energy transition?
– What power do we have to make those changes a reality, and where do we focus our efforts?
– How can all the states working together make this a successful campaign?
Register here!
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZAodOytpzIjHtBZbp1ugGHA…