Oakham BEST Committee Flags Capacity Discrepancy in Battery Storage Permit Application

OAKHAM — November 20, 2025 — Oakham's BEST Committee advances battery storage opposition on multiple regulatory and legislative fronts. The committee, fighting a proposed 180-megawatt battery energy storage facility before the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, reported total legal spending of $6,556.43 against a $90,000 budget and flagged what members called a significant discrepancy between the project's sound report, which references 214 Tesla battery containers, and its main petition, which lists 296 — a difference of 82 units representing approximately 420 unaccounted-for cooling fans. Planning board representatives said Quinn Engineering of Paxton has been engaged to review stormwater detention design, and contracts worth roughly $7,000 to $8,000 each have been signed with an acoustical consultant and with Ecotech. The committee heard a firsthand account of a November 13 Statehouse hearing on two bills filed by Representative Kelly Pease — an 18-month moratorium on new battery siting and a setback bill requiring 2,000 feet from occupied structures — with members expressing doubt the bills will move out of committee without a sustained letter-writing campaign. The committee voted unanimously to draft an invitation to the Department of Conservation and Recreation to appear at a future meeting, given concerns that stormwater overflow from the project site would spill onto DCR-managed land in the Ware River watershed.