The Bay State, the cradle of liberty – robbed by generations of proglodytes pushing the Democrat agenda, is rushing toward disaster. Consumed by the green lie, they authorized the installation of “industrial-size battery energy storage systems (BESS) as a part of our state’s energy future.”
As a result, Massachusetts is ill-prepared for the avalanche of giant battery projects that are about to start hitting around the state, or in some cases, already have. Despite being part of the new law, recent guidance from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is woefully inadequate.
The cited safety standards in the approving legislation are for, by comparison, a tiny battery pack.
A common industrial battery is 1 MW or 4 MWh, and the batteries in question are each the size of 40-foot tractor trailers. Under the 2024 Energy Act, 3,500 or more of these giants are due to arrive around the state over the next two years or so. Where they will all go is anybody’s guess as we are already seeing proposals popping up around the state. At this size, they will mostly be sited in large groups of 40 or more.
These large battery farms have a likelihood of spontaneously combusting. Moss Landing in California has burned thrice in recent years, each time sending significant plumes of toxic chemicals into the sky.
The January fire prompted evacuations for nearby residents, and a team of researchers affiliated with San Jose State University announced shortly after the incident that they had detected significantly increased concentrations of toxic heavy metals in the Elkhorn Slough, a large intertidal area approximately one mile away from the Vistra Energy battery storage facility.
Researchers said their analysis shows that concentrations of certain heavy metals were 100 to 1,000 times higher than typical levels.
Additionally, residents reported noticeable health problems — such as itchy eyes and headaches — in the aftermath of the January blaze, though the company maintains that “there are no hazardous air conditions or risks to public health.”
Based on the reporting, Massachusetts is running headlong into disaster. The citing and safety requirements are incapable of addressing actual risk. There is little or no planning for disaster response. First responders are rarely trained to address smaller lithium battery fires, which amounts to preventing secondary fires and waiting for the battery fire to burn itself out. How do you prepare to handle a fire at a facility with forty tractor-trailer-sized batteries?
Local towns or counties will need evacuation protocols ,which means viable avenues of retreat depending on which wya the wind is blowing.
Then there is the math problem. As we reported here, it would take (at a minimum) the entire GDP of New England annually to build and support enough battery storage to meet current demand, assuming nothing ever goes wrong .
Battery systems and all-electric generation also produce significant waste. Anywhere from 20-30% of the electricity generated will be lost, meaning additional generation infrastructure to offset it at significantly more cost. Then there is the environmental cost of manufacture, transportation, operation, emissions from fires which are inevitable, decommission, and disposal of the highly toxic leftovers.
Given that Massachusetts residents voted for this, I struggle to feel sorry for them, especially if you didn’t vote at all. You can change the direction of your energy future, but you must first understand it and then motivate others to vote differently.
Here in New Hampshire, we’ve seen the forest for the trees across all of our borders and have begun a process that needs to accelerate—a divorce from ISO New England and the dangerous green addiction of our neighbors.
I can’t say it will happen or that we can hold Republican majorities and offices long enough to see it through, but the Granite State produces 168% of the power it needs now. If it embraces and speeds up SMR deployment, we could create an energy oasis. A Sanctuary for businesses and residents alike, where we not only have low-cost electricity, but excess capacity to provide back up to our neighbors at suitable rates when the reality of their electic fantasy comes knocking.
