Weymouth Zoning Board Denies Calpine Battery Storage Special Permit 3-1

WEYMOUTH -- November 17, 2021, Weymouth zoning board votes 3-1 to kill Calpine battery storage project, orders Green Street owner to seek special permit. The Board of Zoning Appeals denied a special permit for Calpine Four River Energy Center's proposed 80-megawatt-hour lithium-ion battery storage facility at 9 Bridge Street, with outside counsel Richard Novak of Pierce Atwood warning the board that a denial, unlike a variance, effectively ends the project, as no easy override exists. An independent risk assessment by engineering firm Lummis, commissioned by the Weymouth Fire Department, found the system would not add significant fire risk above current site conditions, and Deputy Chief Justin Myers said the department is "capable of working within" those risks, though he declined to endorse or oppose the project outright. Calpine general manager Charlie Parnell told the board the plant pays more than $4 million annually in taxes as Weymouth's largest taxpayer, and that the battery project was material to the plant's future under a tax increment financing agreement set to expire within years. In a separate unanimous vote, the board partially overturned Building Inspector Jeff Richards's determination at 450 Green Street, finding that while owner Paul Zona had not abandoned the property's pre-existing nonconforming commercial use, he had illegally intensified it through multiple businesses and must file for a special permit to continue operating.