Development and construction of battery energy storage systems (BESS) in Massachusetts has become more feasible as a result of expanded statutory protections and the implementation of new safety regulations. Energy storage has been called a “Swiss Army Knife” because it makes possible a wide range of applications, including peak shaving, grid stabilization and distributed generation grid integration. Despite its versatility and increasing energy demands, BESS development has faced significant barriers. Local safety concerns and inconsistent municipal permitting processes have frequently delayed or discouraged projects. Even with these challenges, energy storage remains essential to the commonwealth’s clean energy transition, with the 2024 Clean Energy Act calling for 5,000 MWh of storage by 2030.
A major turning point for BESS development occurred with the 2025 Massachusetts Land Court’s decision concerning an energy storage project in Duxbury. That case held that the commonwealth’s “Solar Energy Provision” applies to standalone BESS systems. The Solar Energy Provision states:
“No zoning ordinance or by-law shall prohibit or unreasonably regulate the installation of solar energy systems or the building of structures that facilitate the collection of solar energy, except where necessary to protect the public health, safety or welfare.”
The court reasoned that the legislature intended the Solar Energy Provision to promote solar energy generation, and that the statute explicitly includes structures that support or facilitate solar energy use, including construction of standalone BESS facilities. The court rejected the argument that BESS facilities must store only solar-generated electricity to qualify for protection under the Solar Energy Provision of the Dover Amendment, expanding the protections to such storage systems, and further reasoned that a BESS structure is within the meaning of the Solar Energy Provision. As a result, municipalities cannot prohibit or unreasonably regulate such systems. The Duxbury decision aligns with long-standing precedent supporting renewable energy infrastructure in Massachusetts, including Tracer Lane II Realty, LLC v. Waltham, where the Supreme Judicial Court held that restricting solar development without a reasonable purpose of protecting the public health, safety or welfare, was in violation of the Dover Amendment’s Solar Energy Provision…