The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) on Sept. 11 upheld the Energy Facilities Siting Board’s (EFSB’s) approval of a controversial substation in East Boston, likely concluding the 10-year fight over the project.  

The court ruled that the petitioners, the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and GreenRoots, did not meet the heavy burden of proof required to overturn the EFSB’s approval of the project.  

“We conclude that the board’s decision is lawful, was supported by substantial evidence, and was not arbitrary, capricious or otherwise an abuse of the board’s discretion,” the SJC found.  

The project, currently under construction, is sited on the bank of the Chelsea Creek near a public park, homes and a new police station.  

Eversource Energy, the electric distribution company responsible for the project, had argued the substation is needed to meet load growth in the area and preserve electric reliability.  

However, the project was met with significant opposition by residents and environmental advocacy organizations, which argued it will add to the significant burden of pollution already facing the neighborhood. The surrounding area is classified by the state as an environmental justice neighborhood, meeting the definition’s criteria for income, minority population and language isolation.  

In a non-binding 2022 ballot question, 83% of Boston voters opposed the project at the selected site, while politicians including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D) have voiced their opposition to the project. 

In challenging the EFSB’s approval, CLF and GreenRoots argued the board did not adequately weigh the project’s environmental burdens with its benefits to the community and said the board improperly pre-empted the review processes of two local agencies. 

The groups also took issue with the substation’s designation as a water-dependent facility when granting its tidelands license.  

The court was not persuaded by these arguments, finding “no error in the board’s considerations of environmental protection, public health and public safety.” 

The project’s opponents expressed disappointment with the court’s ruling, arguing it is a failure to protect residents of the environmental justice neighborhood.  

“East Boston residents endure major pollution and other environmental hazards that threaten their health and safety, and this project was poorly sited in a flood-prone area,” said Anxhela Mile of the Conservation Law Foundation. Mile added that the decision underscores the “need to reform how the commonwealth permits energy infrastructure and assesses the cumulative environmental and health risks a community faces. 

“GreenRoots and the East Boston community affected by the Eversource project are disappointed with the MA SJC’s decision to allow the project to move forward, but honestly we’re not surprised,” said John Walkey of GreenRoots. “The siting and permitting process is broken from any perspective you look at it.” 

He noted that the fight over the substation was an important factor in passing environmental justice protections into state law in 2021, and in centering environmental justice protections in recent efforts to pass permitting reforms in the state.  

“We have also seen Eversource itself change its own approach to engaging communities in their recently proposed substation in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Boston,” Walkey added, noting that the company engaged the community before filing with the EFSB and “brought up the question of Community Benefits Agreements right out of the gate.” 

“However, this is cold comfort for an already environmentally over-burdened East Boston community now saddled with additional poorly and unjustly sited industrial infrastructure,” Walkey said. 

Eversource spokesperson William Hinkle said the court’s decision affirms the substation “is critically needed to address local capacity constraints, support a rapid growth in electric use and reliably serve our customers in East Boston and Chelsea.” 

“We cannot leave any customers or communities behind in the clean energy transition and achieving decarbonization and electrification goals while ensuring that all customers have access to clean energy opportunities will require a significant amount of new electric infrastructure,” he added. 

The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities recently approved the electric sector modernization plans of the state’s three investor-owned electric utilities, establishing the framework for major new investments in electric infrastructure across the state. (See Mass. DPU Approves 1st Round of Utility Grid Modernization Plans.) 

Meanwhile, in a proposed supplemental budget bill, Gov. Maura Healey (D) included reforms to streamline and expedite the state’s clean energy permitting and siting processes. The proposal would reduce the timeline for reviewing infrastructure projects — including substations — while requiring a cumulative impact analysis to account for existing pollution sources and public health burdens, a requirement that was not in place for the review of the East Boston substation. (See Mass. Gov. Healey Includes Permitting Reform in Budget Proposal.) 

Hinkle noted the company has completed about 75% of the work on the station foundations, with construction expected to extend through the third quarter of 2025. The company expects the substation to come online in late 2025.  

The company estimated in late 2022 the project will cost about $103 million, compared to the initial $66 million estimate presented to the EFSB. Eversource attributed this increase to construction delays and higher costs of materials and labor.