Ground broken in East Boston for a battle that’s been fought for nearly a decade.

By Christine Park

Eversource Energy began construction on its newest substation in East Boston after first proposing the idea in 2014 which was met with  protests over environmental justice concerns. 

“I guess you can say that it was not the greatest day of my life,” said Jule Manitz, reflecting on the day Eversource broke ground. Manitz is part of the Boston sector of Extinction Rebellion (XR), a group hoping to raise environmental awareness through a non-violent movement which is protesting the construction of a new substation by Eversource.

A substation is an electric system facility that significantly reduces the voltage of electricity that is sent from a transmission system - in order to be able to supply the, now, lower voltage electricity to homes and businesses. 

As part of Eversource’s Mystic - East Eagle - Chelsea Reliability Project, the company  first proposed building a new substation in 2014 in East Boston. Local residents and environmentalist groups have actively protested the substation, citing concerns over the environmental benefits of the substation and the impact that the substation would have on the surrounding neighborhoods. 

The proposed location for the substation is on East Eagle Street, next to the flood-prone Chelsea Creek and only a few yards away from American Legion Playground, a popular playground for local children. 

East Boston residents and local politicians have been protesting this substation build since the idea to build one was first proposed in 2014, reasoning that East Boston is already home to Boston Logan International Airport, many of the region’s fuel reserves, and major highways. Additional infrastructure imposed on a residential neighborhood poses an additional burden to residents. 

 In fact, 84 percent of voters Boston voters voted NO to question 2 on the November  2021 ballot that asked: "Should a high voltage, electric substation be built at 400 Condor Street in East Boston, along the Chelsea Creek, near homes, parks, playgrounds, jet fuel storage, and in a flood risk area rather than in a nearby alternative safe and secure location such as non-residential Massport land at Logan Airport?" Because the vote was nonbinding, Eversource was still legally able to begin construction on the substation and more recently, the cost to build it was raised from a projected $66 million to $103 million. 

Manitz and other activists argue funneling so much money into a project doesn’t align with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ plans to be fossil fuel free by 2050.

 “According to science, building any new fossil fuel free infrastructure doesn’t make sense right now,” Manitz said, “Massachusetts is not doing anything to guarantee that the state will be fossil fuel free by 2050, and this substation only adds to that. [The $100 million] would be a better investment if it was put towards solar panels in East Boston.”   

Environmental activist groups like GreenRoots and XR Boston  have concerns over how East Boston is already affected by pollution from the airport and highways.  Adding a substation next to a regularly flooding body of water that is targeted by sea-level rise projections is not a good plan. According to a report by Climate Ready Boston, East Boston is already subject to dangerous coastal flooding, with over 25% of East Boston residences being at risk of being severely affected by flooding. 

GreenRoots and the Conservation Law Foundation have filed appeals over environmental concerns  with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court after the  Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board recently granted Eversource  a special certificate that allows the company to bypass a number of state and local environmental permits it was unable to obtain. The appeals go over the environmental problems the substation poses as well as how most of East Boston is opposed to this project. 

“It’s time to put this community first when it comes to environmental solutions,” Manitz said, “And fighting this from within the system will hopefully give us the leverage we need.”