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By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — After announcing in March that the city’s new Fire Station used 250% more energy than anticipated, Director of Energy and Sustainability Carole Collins said teams have identified the problem and are working to solve it.

By CHRIS LARABEE

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Residents are invited to hear the findings from a feasibility study exploring geothermal energy in South Deerfield during a Zoom presentation on Thursday, July 17.

By CHRIS LARABEE

DEERFIELD — The site plan review hearing for a proposed solar array at 160 Conway Road was continued to August, as the applicant and the Planning Board will further examine concerns about water on the site.

By CHRIS LARABEE

Local advocates are urging the Legislature to remove a specific provision in Gov. Maura Healey’s Energy Affordability, Independence & Innovation Act that would repeal a 1982 referendum requiring voters at a statewide election to approve any new nuclear facilities in Massachusetts.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

ERVING — Town officials and residents got a first look this week at preliminary plans for a battery energy storage facility being proposed by Spearmint Energy.

By ERIN-LEIGH HOFFMAN

MONTAGUE — After three years of disputes over the assessed value of FirstLight Hydro Generating Co.’s property in town, a 10-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement is now in effect.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

MONTAGUE — After the applicant quelled concerns of a fire risk, Planning Board members voted unanimously to approve a special permit for the construction of a 2.7-megawatt battery storage facility at 124 Turnpike Road.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

The towns of Shelburne and Ashfield have been awarded a total of $30,000 in Municipal Energy Technical Assistance (META) grants from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to support clean energy project planning.

By LUKE MACANNUCO

Rays of sunshine finally peeked through the clouds onto Energy Park on May 29 as members of the Franklin County Musician’s Cooperative, a non-profit collective of local musicians founded in 2004, worked together to set up the first Coop Concert of the summer.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The citizens group that formed in 2023 in opposition to a since-withdrawn proposal for a battery storage facility has filed a motion asking the Land Court to overturn the state Attorney General’s rejection of the group’s proposed bylaw.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is proposing to repeal a law put in place by voters as part of a worldwide nuclear freeze movement, a bid to open the door to greater deployment of newer nuclear energy facilities as part of a push to save ratepayers $10 billion over a decade.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — Fire service leaders from across the region viewed footage of battery storage facilities, electric scooters and electric vehicles combusting into flames on Tuesday, broadening their knowledge of the unique challenges associated with extinguishing battery fires.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

ASHFIELD — It’s official. Ashfield has been named among the state’s first group of Climate Leader Communities, making it the first Franklin County municipality to earn the designation.

By CHRIS LARABEE

GREENFIELD — The White House’s top-line discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2026, released on May 2, proposes the slashing of two line items that, if approved, could significantly alter Community Action Pioneer Valley’s services.

By ALEXA LEWIS

HOLYOKE — Unperturbed by the rain that pelted their colorful signs, dozens of impassioned community members hailing from cities and towns across the region gathered in song and frustration to protest state clean energy siting practices they think will be more harmful to the environment than helpful.

By DOMENIC POLI

ORANGE — Solar panels have been installed on Fisher Hill Elementary School’s roof, another step in a renovation project that began nearly five years ago.

By DOMENIC POLI

WENDELL — The citizens group that formed in 2023 in opposition to a since-withdrawn proposal for a 105-megawatt battery storage facility plans to present clean energy siting suitability findings to state policymakers in Holyoke on May 5.

By COLIN A. YOUNG

A recommendation from a task force the Legislature created a decade ago resurfaced last week before the Revenue Committee, which took testimony related to the machinations involved when a farm wants to use a portion of its land to generate both renewable electricity and supplemental income.

By CHRIS LARABEE

Beginning more than a decade ago and wrapping up in 2016, a wide-ranging coalition in western Massachusetts banded together to resist Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.’s Northeast Energy Direct project, which proposed a pipeline running through eight Franklin County towns.

By MADISON SCHOFIELD

ASHFIELD — As part of its goal to cut use of fossil fuels in municipal facilities by 95.6% by 2050, town officials recently spent the day perusing sites that could help power Ashfield’s future with clean energy while reducing energy costs.

By ANTHONY CAMMALLERI

GREENFIELD — The city’s Fire Station at 41 Main St., a roughly $21.7 million construction project that opened last May, uses 250% more energy than anticipated, according to Greenfield’s Energy and Sustainability Director Carole Collins.