Peabody Generator Opponents Petition State For Additional Reviews

PEABODY, MA — North Shore elected officials joined opponents of a planned 55-megawatt surge capacity generator at the Peabody Waters River substation in demanding additional environmental and health reviews of the fossil fuel-powered generator on Wednesday.

State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) and State Rep. Sally Kerans (D-Danvers) joined more than 30 advocates and community representatives in delivering a petition with more than 1,200 signatures to the office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Katherine Theoharides calling on the state to reopen the state Environmental Protection Agency process based on current regulations and the status of portions of Danvers, Peabody and Salem as state environmental justice communities.

"A Health Impact Assessment of the proposed Peabody peaker plant project is a reasonable request and that's why neighbors, ratepayers and advocates for action on climate change are appealing to Secretary Theoharides," Kerans said in a statement to Patch. "Without it, residents and ratepayers won't be fully knowledgeable about its impact on our air.

"It's disrespectful to our communities given that Essex County has a 'D' rating in ozone air quality and this community has been so overburdened in the past."

The Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Company has said the generator — which was first proposed in 2015 — is necessary to reliably meet surge-capacity power requirements in the event of extreme weather and other catastrophic conditions without dramatic price fluctuations for ratepayers.

The state Department of Public Utilities approved the project and later dismissed appeals to that approval in July following a two-month pause in the process where the power company allowed for more public questions and comment from members of the Danvers and Peabody communities.

MMWEC officials held a public forum in Peabody and a meeting with town and state officials in Danvers in June in an attempt to address residents' and officials' concerns.

Ultimately, however, the power company opted to move forward with the general framework of Project 2015A with additional commitments to explore the use of "green hydrogen" power as it potentially becomes more viable in the future, the use of non-toxic urea instead of ammonia as a scrubbing agent for NOx emissions, the removal of one of the oil tanks on-site and a commitment from the Peabody Municipal Power Light Plant to decommission an older, less-efficient, 20-watt generator at the Waters River site once the new generator comes online.

The MMWEC has repeatedly said the new generator is expected to operate about 239 hours a year and is 94 percent more efficient than current generators being used across the state.

Opponents have argued that any new plant or generator that uses gas or diesel oil — regardless of how efficient — has potential climate and health implications and violates the spirit of 2021 state climate legislation aimed at making the state carbon neutral by 2050.

"In addition to the impact the proposed peaker plant would have on the environment and climate, we also need to be cautious about the potential ill effects it would have on our health," Lovely said in the statement to Patch. "An environmental and health impact assessment should take place before future action is undertaken."

Petitioners said the lack of action from Gov. Charlie Baker and the EEA is in contrast to their stated intentions of being pro-climate control and that any plans approved in 2015 should be reviewed in light of the more recent and urgent climate crisis information.

"This is a 6-year-old plan that most people, including city officials, did not know about until six months ago," said Sudi Smoller, co-founder of Breathe Clean North Shore, told Patch. "While transparency promotes accountability, lack of transparency causes a lack of trust. We have been making our voices heard because it is not too late to re-examine this plan and change the direction of our energy future.

"We want Secretary Theoharides and the Baker Administration to follow their own rules and stop investing in fossil fuel projects that add to the burdens of our environmental justice communities."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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