Eversource's East Boston substation: 'This is a power play'
Eversource's East Boston substation: 'This is a power play'
City councilor and state Sen. Lydia Edwards on Eversource's planned electrical substation in East Boston, and her proposal to halt its construction
Eversource’s proposed high voltage electric substation in East Boston is immensely unpopular — in a 2021 nonbinding ballot measure, more than 80% of city residents opposed the project.
East Boston is considered an environmental justice neighborhood by the state, and a majority of its residents are people of color. The substation would be located in a flood prone area, next to a large jet fuel storage facility, and across the street from a playground.
But despite opposition from the community and local politicians, including Mayor Michelle Wu, former Mayor Kim Janey, Rep. Ayana Pressley, and Sen. Ed Markey, the project recently received final approval from the state.
Newly elected state Senator and current Boston city councilor Lydia Edwards is on a quest to change that. She recently announced a proposal to halt the project through a home rule petition.
The proposal would write environmental justice standards into the city’s zoning and building code. This would affect both existing and newly constructed buildings.
It would also prevent utility companies such as Eversource from bypassing Boston zoning laws, which they are currently allowed to do as a Public Service Corporation.
I recently spoke with the senator about her proposal, and the ongoing fight.
“I want a process that assesses climate change, that assesses community needs, racial justice, and really acknowledges the evolving standards for keeping our energy cleaner and our neighborhoods healthier,” she said. “And I think the Boston Zoning Commission can come up with that evolving standard. The DPU [Department of Public Utilities] clearly hasn't.”
Edwards hopes that this new rule will inspire other communities to make similar changes to their municipal zoning rules. “Hopefully a lot of them look to this and say, ‘OK, yeah, actually we should be also including environmental justice standards in our zoning,” Edwards said.
She said that Eversource’s insistence on pushing through the East Boston site has more to do with sending a message than any logistical constrains.
“I think they're adamant about being right, because if they can be checked, it'll set a precedent that allows for more people and more communities to feel empowered to push back,” Edwards said. “They essentially can't afford to lose, because people will then see this as an opportunity and a roadmap to check and counter their power. This is a power play.”
Community advocates have complained about a lack of transparency and adequate translation services for residents throughout the process. Local environmental justice organization GreenRoots sued the EPA for violating the Civil Rights Act after they declined to investigate these claims.
When the city finally held a public hearing with Eversource representatives, Edwards said the company seemed “very annoyed to even have to answer questions of the average person who’s going to be impacted by their permanent infrastructure in our neighborhood.”
Edwards called the Eversource’s thinking “incredibly outdated,” and doesn’t believe that they considered community needs, the impacts of the climate change, or alternative sources of energy throughout the process.
Edwards is optimistic about getting her rule passed through the Boston City Council and signed by Mayor Wu, who has been vocal in her opposition to the substation.
If it passes through the city government, it then will head to the Statehouse.
“That’s another battle,” Edwards said. “And of course, when it goes to Statehouse, the utility companies will be calling up my colleagues in the Statehouse who aren’t necessarily part of the Boston delegation to kill it.”
If the bill clears the state legislature, it will then need the governor’s signature to become law (notwithstanding a favorable supermajority). The state is currently in the midst of a wide-open governor’s race, with incumbent Republican Charlie Baker not running for reelection.
“There is not one elected official that has ever supported this damn substation,” Edwards added. “There is no political or moral will for this freaking substation. This is literally Eversource — they're alone on an island.”
Edwards speculated that under current law, of all political entities in the state, Baker has the most power to kill the project. Ultimately, it seems likely that outcome of the November gubernatorial election will have large implications on the fate of the project.
New England Climate News Roundup
Region-Wide
New England’s new regional head of the EPA took an optimistic tone in conversation with Radio Boston. “I can’t think of a better time to have stepped into this position,” he said (WBUR).
Connecticut
A state-funded program to map flood and heat vulnerabilities and explore mitigation options is expanding to southeastern Connecticut (The Day).
A new report by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection details how new emissions standards could improve air quality and public health (DEEP).
Following the collapse of the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a new climate and transportation bill boosting electric vehicles is up for debate in the state legislature (Connecticut Public).
Maine
A bill to provide $3 million in state funds for climate education cleared the Senate last week (Spectrum News).
A conservation easement in western Maine will protect 21,000 acres in the Grafton Notch Forest, including 6,000 acres to be designated as wilderness (Maine Public).
Massachusetts
A state judge rejected Exxon Mobil’s attempt to dismiss a Massachusetts lawsuit over climate deception on the grounds of free speech (Reuters).
A bill boosting offshore wind heads to the state Senate (Center Square).
Massachusetts is on track to ban new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, following the Biden Administration’s restoration of California’s authority to set their own emissions standards (Berkshire Eagle).
A recent New Yorker profile of the Sunrise Movement prominently features Massachusetts local Varshini Prakash, the organization’s executive director (The New Yorker).
Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Kathleen Theoharides outlined the 4% increase in department funding in Gov. Baker’s proposed 2023 budget (Wicked Local)
New Hampshire
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu recently sat down for an interview with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which included a few questions on climate change (Center for Strategic and International Studies). A short breakdown:
In the interview, Sununu walked the tightrope of a New England Republican.
"Climate change is real, we have to talk about it, and we have to actually act to it,” said Sununu. “It doesn’t mean you solve it tomorrow, because it can’t be solved tomorrow… that’s not practical, it’s not gonna happen.”
Sununu stressed the need to be selective about clean energy subsidies, while speaking highly of hydropower and offshore wind.
“All of this renewable energy requires a subsidy. We have to own that, of course it does,” he said. “So it’s, where is that subsidy coming from, what is the impact on the citizens, and are we getting the biggest bang for our buck.”
New Hampshire Republican candidates for US Senate call for increased oil and gas drilling (WMUR).
As state Attorneys General sign on to a motion defending vehicle emissions standards, New Hampshire Republican Attorney General John Formella remains the lone New England holdout (ca.gov).
350 New Hampshire organized a protest at the Statehouse on Sunday following the legislature’s failure to pass several climate bills (WMUR)
Rhode Island
Thanks to funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, $695 million in grant funding is now available to municipalities for clean drinking water projects in the state (ABC6).
Providence city council candidate Corey Jones is running on a city-level Green New Deal platform, which has received support from several other candidates and one sitting council member (Providence Journal).
Gov. Dan McKee announced a new rebate for electric car purchases in the state (Providence Journal).
Vermont
Vermont’s only utility company is offering a pilot program to switch to electric heat pumps (Energy News Network).
A look at how climate change is affecting the maple sugar industry in the state, and how producers are responding (VTDigger).