As officials in Springfield, Massachusetts gear up for another fight over a proposed biomass power plant, western Massachusetts lawmakers have been taking the issue up on Beacon Hill.
Firmly against a wood-burning biomass plant coming to Springfield while he was once a city councilor, State Senator Adam Gomez is pushing bills that could prevent such a project from coming to pass.
This, as permits for a previously-proposed biomass seemingly return from the dead.
“… now we find ourselves here, once again, facing the revived threat of the Palmer Renewable energy biomass plant - what many of us call a ‘zombie plant,’ because no matter how many times it's defeated, it keeps coming back to life,” he said during a webinar on the matter Wednesday.
A recent court decision led to the latest twist in the biomass saga.
In early May, the Massachusetts Appeals Court undid a 2023 Land Court decision – one that affirmed a move to revoke the project’s permits by the Springfield Zoning Board of Appeals.
Proposed in 2008, the last round of biomass building permits were issued 14 years ago and have been the subject of revocations, reinstatements and open questions.
Proposed by developer Palmer Renewable Energy, the plant would likely go up off Page Boulevard in East Springfield, burning up to 1,200 tons of wood a day to generate around 40 megawatts.
Now, lawmakers like Gomez are trying to close what they are calling as a "biomass loophole” – discussed at a “Fighting for Air” forum hosted by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts on June 25.
“Back in 2021, the state passed the landmark ‘Next-Generation [Roadmap for Massachusetts Climate] Act,’ which created new greenhouse gas emission standards for municipal lighting plants, or as we know, MLPs,” he said. “These are publicly owned electric utilities that serve about 14 percent of Massachusetts residents. The law required MLPs to source an increasing percentage of their energy from non-carbon emitting sources. The problem is: biomass was included in that list.”
According to Gomez, at the start of next year, a wood-burning biomass “could be counted as a clean energy source” by MLPs, despite emitting more CO2 than coal and gas, his office claims.
Legislation he's filed in the senate – alongside Springfield State Representative Orlando Ramos in the house – would remove what's known as "woody biomass” from said list.
“Why is this important? Because the developers of [the] Palmer biomass plant built their business model around signing power purchase agreements with MLPs,” he said. “At one point, they had contracts lined up for nearly 75 percent of the power. Those contracts have been canceled, but if the loophole stays open, those contracts could be renegotiated and if we don’t close the loophole, this polluting facility may finally have the financial lifeline it needs to become a reality and we need to stop it now.”
The legislative route is one tack being taken by Springfield officials to try to hinder the project – the other being the Springfield City Council calling on the state’s Supreme Judicial Court to hear their case and undo the May decision.
Council President Mike Fenton says building permits ought to last their standard six months – not over a decade.
“We feel really upset with the result of the Appeals Court decision, we have worked with our council, CLF, to ask the Supreme Judicial Court to hear our appeal, which previously they refused to during the last set of litigation, which was almost exactly ten years ago – 2015,” Fenton said. “So, we're hopeful that the SJC will hear this appeal.”
Springfield is consistently ranked for its high rates of asthma, a fact held up by advocates opposed to biomass energy.
At the same webinar, Rusty Polsgrove of Arise Springfield said the group’s fighting for local lungs, especially communities of color they say would be lopsidedly affected by the plant – residents who already bear the brunt of the city’s current poor air quality.
“We are fighting for a future where environmental justice is not an afterthought but the starting point - that's why today, we're calling on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to take up this case,” Polsgrove said. “We deserve our day in court. Our state's highest court must not turn away from a clear opportunity to confront environmental racism. This case is about more than permits and policy - it's about justice.”
Reached by phone, a legal representative for Palmer Renewable tells WAMC no comment would be issued at this time.
