Energy Facility Siting Board Rules Charlestown is an Affected Community and Will Have a Public Hearing

On Tuesday, October 17, Charlestown Town Solicitor Peter Ruggiero successfully presented the Town’s motion for intervener status before the Energy Facility Siting Board (EFSB). The EFSB has determined Charlestown is an affected community and the EFSB must now hold a public hearing in Charlestown.

Under the state law that controls the process the EFSB uses to review the Burrillville power plant, the Town must be given a minimum of 30 days notice of the hearing date. That puts the public hearing either shortly before Thanksgiving or shortly after.

The EFSB final hearing was scheduled to start on October 17. This is the EFSB’s own hearing where they will hear expert testimony and the public can’t speak. The last public hearing was supposedly the one held in Burrillville on October 10, but now that Charlestown has been recognized as an affected community, the EFSB must now put their own hearings on hold and schedule one more public hearing to be held in Charlestown.

At this hearing the Town government will make comments, but also any member of the public can speak. We’ll provide updates as there is more news, including the time and place of the hearing as soon as it is scheduled.