Oakham Select Board Creates BESS Committee to Fight Battery Storage Project

OAKHAM — September 15, 2025 — Oakham Select Board forms committee to oppose battery storage project and appoints new Conservation Commission member. Meeting Monday, the board voted 2-0 with one abstention to seat a five-member Battery Energy Storage System committee charged with coordinating opposition to the proposed Marega BESS project at 358 Colbrook Road, appointing former Selectman Matthew Broderick and engineer David Graham as at-large public members alongside Planning Board member Philip Warbass, Conservation Commission member Lucy Tessnow, and a Select Board representative. The board also voted 2-0 with one abstention to appoint Sean Seeley to the Conservation Commission — Seeley resigned from the local nonprofit ACORNS before the vote to avoid a conflict of interest — and unanimously signed the warrant for a Special Town Meeting set for October 6 at the Oakham Elementary School. Central Mass Planning Commission planner Mark presented a combined Hazard Mitigation and Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness plan built over eight committee sessions since November 2023, noting the town could become eligible for MVP action grants of up to $2 million once the plan is certified, with the next grant round expected in spring 2026.