The agreement with Kearsarge Energy will bring the town nearly $281,000 over two decades; the Select Board also fielded extensive questions on fire safety and long-term decommissioning costs before voting 4-1 to approve it

By John Barrella

August 4, 2026

MIDDLEBOROUGH — After roughly 45 minutes of questioning on fire safety, decommissioning costs, and what happens if the battery outlives its usefulness, the Select Board voted 4-1 Monday night to approve a 20-year tax agreement for a proposed 4.99-megawatt battery storage facility to be built by Kearsarge Energy.

The board was careful throughout the discussion to stress that it was voting only on the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement, not on whether the project itself will ultimately be built. Under the agreement, which board member Brian Giovanoni moved to approve based on a version revised July 16, Kearsarge will pay the town $11,000 in the first year, with a 2.5 percent annual escalator over 20 years, totaling $280,991 by the end of the agreement. The measure passed, with Chair Farley casting the only vote against it.

Board member William Pike Jr. said before the vote that a letter from Kimberly French of Sustainable Middleboro had “swayed” him toward supporting the project. Farley said she personally remained unswayed but would not stand in the board’s way. “I am not swayed, but I’m one person, and I respect the vote of the board, so we can go ahead and vote,” she said — before ultimately voting no herself once the roll was called.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Farley elaborated on her opposition, pointing to the town’s finances. She said she remains concerned about “the town still being in a budget crisis” and was “uncomfortable giving away real money” through the agreement’s tax break, even with the PILOT structured to bring in new revenue the town would not otherwise collect.

Craig-McGee, whose only comment on the matter during Monday’s meeting was to note that the Planning Board is separately working on zoning regulations for battery storage projects, said in a phone interview Tuesday that she still has “multiple concerns about the project itself,” but noted that the board was “only asked to vote on the PILOT itself,” not the broader project. She said she voted yes based on a letter of support submitted to the board by Middleborough Gas & Electric, along with the agreement’s escalation clause and its decommissioning plan.

The safety and financial questions

Much of the meeting’s most substantive discussion centered on what happens at the far end of the 20-year agreement, and whether the town is adequately protected in the meantime.

Andrew Bernstein, head of development at Kearsarge, told the board the company will post a decommissioning letter of credit or bond, held in the names of both the landlord and the town, to fund removal of the battery if the project is ever abandoned. An independent engineer — not affiliated with Kearsarge — will certify the removal cost estimate, which will be adjusted for inflation over time, Bernstein said.

Asked what happens if the battery still has value after 20 years, Bernstein said Kearsarge would likely seek to refurbish and upgrade the facility, subject to capacity limits set by its existing grid interconnection, and negotiate a new tax agreement at that point. If the company walks away instead, the battery would continue to be taxed as a personal property asset, he said, with the town’s assessor determining its value using comparable sales and income data — a figure Bernstein acknowledged could ultimately be zero.

Pike asked whether an independent expert would be brought in to assess that value. Bernstein said yes, adding that battery components — largely steel, along with some materials with secondary-market value even after their capacity degrades below utility-grade requirements — are likely to retain at least some worth, though he could not offer a specific estimate.

The board also pressed on what happens if Kearsarge is sold to another company during the 20-year term. Bernstein said any successor would be bound by the same tax agreement, a provision he described as standard in these contracts.

Fire safety record

Captain Jake Kreyling of the Beverly Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau, appearing as an independent consultant rather than a company representative, told the board that Massachusetts has seen no major safety incidents to date among the roughly 131 grid-scale batteries currently operating in the state, part of a broader network of some 6,000 grid-connected batteries statewide, including residential systems. Nationally, he said, more than 1,000 utility-scale battery projects like this one are now in operation.

Kreyling said safety technology in this category of battery has improved substantially in just the past few years, to the point that systems being proposed today are significantly safer than those installed even three years ago. He said his department has developed standard operating procedures cooperatively with other Essex County communities and with Kearsarge directly, at no cost to Beverly taxpayers, and offered to share those protocols with Middleborough at no charge.

Kreyling described his role at Monday’s meeting as that of “an independent consultant,” rather than a representative of the city of Beverly or of Kearsarge itself. He did not say who, if anyone, compensates him for appearances of this kind, and it remains unclear how many other communities he may have advised on battery storage projects similar to the one proposed in Middleborough. Kearsarge did not address the arrangement during the meeting.

Interim Fire Chief Dana Fontaine told the board that he and two code enforcement officers visited an existing Kearsarge project in Sterling, Massachusetts, roughly three weeks ago and spoke with that town’s fire chief, who Fontaine said had “nothing but good to say” about the company’s compliance with safety standards. Middleborough has already obtained a copy of Sterling’s safety operating guide, he said.

In a follow-up interview, Fontaine said he had “no concerns from a safety perspective” and that the safety concerns raised during the meeting “seem to have been addressed with a plan.”

Also on Monday’s agenda

Special Town Meeting target date. The board proposed the town’s Special Town Meeting on Monday, October 5, 2026, consistent with recent past practice. Finance Committee Chair Robert Sullivan was checking the availability of that committee’s members. Should the date hold, the warrant must be finalized and submitted to Nemasket Week by September 10; the board plans to open the warrant at its August 17 meeting and close it by August 28, ahead of its August 31 session.

Fire department surplus equipment. The board voted unanimously, on a motion by Giovanoni, to declare a list of outdated fire department equipment as surplus and direct that proceeds from its disposal be placed in a new special reserve account for future equipment purchases and truck repairs, rather than the town’s general fund. Fontaine told the board that some items — including an old tanker truck of interest to a private snow-and-ice contractor and a decommissioned Maxim fire engine with what he described as a following among vintage apparatus collectors — are likely to draw modest buyer interest, while other equipment, including gear from the department’s long-defunct dive team, has little remaining value and has instead been donated to the Department of Public Works and the Plymouth County Technical Rescue dive team.

Stony Brook Pond Dam contract. The board voted unanimously to authorize Farley or Interim Town Manager Joe Perkins to execute a construction contract with Luciano’s Excavation Inc. for repairs to the Stony Brook Pond Dam, but only after board members raised concerns about incomplete contract language and missing performance bonds. Pike questioned why the draft agreement identified the Conservation Commission, rather than the Select Board, as the awarding authority, and noted the document was otherwise unfilled. Conservation Agent Patricia Cassady said the contractor had not yet returned signed bonds. The board’s vote authorized signature only once the wording is corrected and documentation is complete.

In a related public hearing, the board unanimously approved a special permit under the town’s Water Resource Protection District bylaw for the same dam project, which sits immediately upstream of two of the town’s drinking water wells. Engineer David Cohen of Pare Corporation told the board the dam nearly failed during a 2010 storm, prompting an emergency stabilization effort, and said the town has since secured grant funding for a permanent repair addressing erosion, spillway capacity, and compliance with state dam safety requirements for a 100-year storm event.

One-day liquor licenses. The board unanimously approved a series of one-day beer and wine licenses for Center Ave, LLC, covering ten events at the Alley Theater on Center Street between now and Halloween, including a recurring “Mimosa with the Medium” series and multiple performances of “Lion King Jr.”

40B application withdrawn. The board noted that ABC Residential Properties has withdrawn a proposed 40B affordable housing application, which Giovanoni credited to the town’s expansion of its smart-growth overlay district and to sustained advocacy work by Town Planner Leeann Bradley in documenting the town’s affordable housing inventory to the state.

Water agreements with neighboring towns. Farley told the board she has spoken with Bridgewater Select Board member Paul Murphy about that town’s interest in an intermunicipal water agreement with Middleborough, and has asked Giovanoni to begin drafting terms with Town Counsel for possible action at October’s Special Town Meeting. Separately, she said the North Carver Water District has dissolved, shifting the town’s ongoing water discussions away from earlier informal talks and toward a new set of negotiations.

Public comment

Several residents raised smaller but persistent concerns. One asked the board to reprogram the traffic signal at the town center to prioritize pedestrian crossings. Craig-McGee raised the possibility of adding a marked crosswalk near the Alley Theater, noting the lack of one for residents walking over from the Town Hall parking lot, though board members cautioned that any addition would need to meet accessibility requirements and be reviewed by the town’s DPW director.

A longer exchange centered on a resident’s request that the town move from twice-yearly to quarterly property tax billing, to ease cash-flow pressure on residents living on fixed incomes. Town officials noted quarterly billing would roughly double mailing and processing costs — an increase they estimated in the tens of thousands of dollars — but agreed to place the issue on a future agenda for further discussion with Director of Finance, Sue Nickerson. Another resident objected to the board weighing that cost against a hypothetical crosswalk expense, prompting Farley to clarify that neither idea has been decided, only agreed to for further review.

Other residents flagged uneven pavement grades where North Main Street meets private driveways following last year’s resurfacing project, and confusion among drivers over newly painted, unmarked parking restriction lines near the town’s fire station. Both issues were referred to DPW Director Chris Peck for review.

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