August 28, 2026 by Carol Britton Meyer
A proposed warrant article for the Oct. 29 special town meeting related to a Hingham Municipal Lighting Plant capital upgrade of up to $70 million will not appear on the warrant as initially planned but will be replaced with a related article.
The original article related to funding for proposed transmission and substation distribution facilities improvements to increase reliability.
Light Board Chair Laura Burns told the select board this week that the board is awaiting the results of a rate study “so we can look at the cost going forward and go back to the public with an accurate picture of what rate increases would be required in order to complete the project.” However, she said, “We’re not there yet. We don’t have the numbers.”
For that reason, the initial HMLP funding article will be considered instead at next spring’s annual town meeting, when that information is available.
Debt service for the project would be paid through ratepayer revenues. This is the second time such a funding article will appear on a town meeting warrant because the planned Spring 2026 town meeting article vote was postponed pending further clarification on the costs and impacts on ratepayers.
The related article that will appear on the special town meeting warrant instead, at the light board’s request, asks voters to authorize the select board to “ask our state representatives to petition the legislature to allow us to bond the project over 30 years rather than [the earlier planned] 20 years” to help bring the annual cost to ratepayers down. An affirmative vote would authorize but not require the board to do so.
In the meantime, the light plant is awaiting Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board approval for this proposed reliability project. An EFSB decision is expected later this year.
The proposed project involves building a new underground 115 kV transmission line from Weymouth to Hingham and a new second substation at the Hingham Transfer Station site.
Pending such approval, public sessions will be held to socialize the project, Burns said.
For further information, go to heirp.com.