The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the proposed battery energy storage system (BESS) bylaw on October 5, 2026, according to the board's agenda published with the Town Clerk on Thursday. The bylaw is being drafted by a working group made up of Vice Chair Alysha Siciliano-Perry, board member Stephan Roundtree, Fire Chief Jason Viveiros and resident Susan Bollinger. Pembroke does not currently have zoning bylaws specific to battery storage facilities. The bylaw appears as Article 4 on the warrant for the October 20 fall special town meeting. At its September 9, 2026, meeting, the Select Board voted to make its recommendation on the article at town meeting, because the Planning Board's hearing falls after the deadline to post the warrant.
Town counsel KP Law has questioned several provisions in the draft bylaw, including setbacks it described as considerably larger than those in the state's model bylaw. KP Law's comments were written on a second draft of the bylaw, which was received by the Planning Board on September 9, 2026, and filed with the Town Clerk on September 16, 2026.
The draft sorts battery storage systems into tiers by capacity. Systems under 250 kilowatt-hours would be allowed by right, and larger systems would need site plan review or a special permit depending on size and zoning district. It would require systems between 600 kilowatt-hours and 5 megawatt-hours to sit at least 300 feet from homes and larger systems at least 500 feet, with 300-foot setbacks from residential zoning districts, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and wetlands. KP Law recommended that the setbacks match the draft's own tiers and noted that they are also larger than those in the town's solar bylaw. Town counsel also wrote that the fire chief cannot waive a zoning setback as the draft proposes and that any reduction would instead require a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).
Planning Board members raised similar concerns at their August 10, 2026, meeting. Town bylaws must be approved by the state Attorney General's Office, and members questioned whether the 300-foot setback would be considered feasible under that review. They discussed basing setbacks on those already in Pembroke's zoning bylaw, including the 100-foot setback where commercial property abuts residential property and the 150-foot setback in industrial areas.
Both the board and town counsel also addressed where zoning authority ends. Many technical safety requirements for battery storage are set by NFPA 855, the national standard for installing stationary energy storage systems, along with the state fire code and UL product certifications, and are enforced by the Fire Department. The board expressed concern that the bylaw should not put the Planning Board in the position of enforcing requirements outside its jurisdiction. KP Law wrote that the Attorney General has previously held that the state building and fire codes preempt local regulation, and that the draft's 20-foot vegetation clearance could be challenged because NFPA 855 requires 10 feet of separation from combustible materials.
KP Law also noted that under new state regulations, battery storage facilities larger than 100 megawatt-hours are permitted by the state Energy Facilities Siting Board as of October 1, 2026, and asked whether the bylaw is meant to work alongside the state's consolidated local permitting process for smaller facilities.
Bollinger is also the only active defendant in a Land Court lawsuit brought by Palmer Management Corporation over a proposed battery storage facility at 48 Schoosett Street, which PCJ reported on in August. Palmer argues she lacked standing to bring the appeal that led the ZBA to send the project's site plan approval back to the Planning Board on April 13, 2026. Bollinger, who is representing herself, filed an opposition to Palmer's motion on September 8, 2026.
The public hearing is scheduled for October 5, 2026, at 7:00 pm at Veterans Hall in Pembroke Town Hall.
Fall Special Town Meeting will be held on October 20, 2026, at Pembroke High School. Residents are asked to arrive by 6:30 pm for a prompt 7:00 pm start. The last day to register to vote for the town meeting is Friday, October 9th.
