Council votes down battery storage moratorium, 11-1

Select Board · Meeting of August 4, 2026

Chicopee City Council voted 11-1 to reject a moratorium on new battery storage facilities, citing state Attorney General guidance against local bans. Council President Frank LaFlamme and Councilor Brooks said the state had made clear municipalities "could not legislate them out of their district or town." Only Councilor Mary Beth Costello voted yes. Separately, the council voted 9-3 to send Councilor Bill Cushain's broader battery storage and data center ordinance draft to the planning department, zoning and ordinance committees, after Councilor Samuel Shumsky called it "not a ban, this is a ban, not a regulation" over its two-megawatt cap.

The council also tabled a quarterly tax billing adoption and the confirmation of a new Chief Human Resource Officer, and authorized $1.2 million in borrowing for water main work tied to the Montgomery-Granby-McKinstry roundabout project.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,901 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of August 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.