Building a cleaner power grid in Massachusetts will require new infrastructure—but deciding where that infrastructure goes requires care, clarity on the principles guiding decisionmaking, and concerted community engagement.
This analysis shows how past approaches to siting have resulted in an overconcentration of electricity infrastructure, notably polluting power plants, within or in close proximity to environmental justice neighborhoods. As the state advances changes to its siting process, those decisions must not replicate the failures of our current energy system, thereby overburdening already vulnerable populations.
Key recommendations of the analysis address cumulative impacts, representation, and integration of the priorities of public health, environmental justice, and climate for siting decisionmaking.
In this report
EJ Neighborhoods and Generating Stations
EJ Neighborhoods and Substations
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Citation
García, Paula, Juan Declet-Barreto, Sofia Owen, Caitlin Peale Sloan, Sital Sathia, and John Walkey. 2024. Siting for a Cleaner, More Equitable Grid in Massachusetts. Cambridge, MA: Alternatives for Community & Environment, Conservation Law Foundation, GreenRoots, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. https://doi.org/10.47923/2024.15371
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