What: A hearing on National Grid petitions to install multiple poles on ten streets: Valley, Spring, School, North Spencer Road, Meadow Road, Capen Road, G.H. Wilson Road, East Charlton Road, Charlton Road and Ash Street. It ties to the Meadow Road substation upgrade.
Where it stands: The Board opened the hearing on July 27 (all five yes) and went through locations with Doug Small. No decision is recorded. The G.H. Wilson Road pole was not treated as resolved because of a resident's access concern.
Next: Clerk C. Woodbury wants National Grid to address the many double poles in Spencer when it returns to the hearing.
Possibly stale: the latest information is from July 2026; no newer Select Board minutes are posted.
Damaris Dominguez of National Grid said the Meadow Road substation was last upgraded in 1997. Capacity is about 40 MVA and the expansion would raise planning capacity to about 95 MVA. About 4.5 miles of overhead primary distribution would be reconducted and upgraded, with FLISR (Fault Location, Isolation and Service Restoration) automation to restore power faster. Part of the Ash Street circuit would become three-phase, extended to connect G.H. Wilson Road and East Charlton Road.
National Grid's four stated benefits: support for growth, reliability and resilience, worker and public safety, and faster outage response.
Motion to open the public hearing (Selectman Grigg/Selectman Letendre): all five members voted yes.
Dan Harden (G.H. Wilson Road) said proposed pole P18-50 would sit directly across from his driveway and could interfere with access and work on his property, said the relocation also affects existing Pole P18, cited recurring power problems and asked the Board to keep oversight of the work.
Theresa Ryan asked about work on Spring Street where a tree was cut and part remained, and whether the pole replaces the tree spot. National Grid's Robert Williams said the remaining tree would be removed and the pole supplies support and tension for lines toward Irving Street.
The Board and Doug Small went through the proposed locations. P18-50 appeared to meet the setback (at least 42 inches from the road edge) but was not considered resolved because of the access concern. P25-50 looked acceptable. P5-84 is a new guide pole replacing a tree used in the support system.
Clerk C. Woodbury raised concern about the number of double poles in town and wants National Grid to address them when it returns; he repeated this under Board comments.
2026-07-27 - Hearing opened; locations reviewed with the Utilities and Facilities Superintendent; resident access concern on G.H. Wilson Road; Board wants double poles addressed.