Hopkinton Eversource BriefingSelect Board Meeting ◆ July 9, 2019

7/9/19

1

Hopkinton LNG Plant Issues

HOPCO LNG Plant

• Sited and constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

• Original siting was not subject to PHMSA’s modern-day safety standards.

• Hopkinton has grown since the plant’s original construction.

• The plant has become a regulatory anomaly: It could not be constructed in modern-day Hopkinton.

• The Town is not trying to shut the plant down but needs to take appropriate steps to address safety and other issues.

7/9/19

2

Tank B Thermal Anomaly

• Tank “B” was constructed in 1972. It holds ~3 billion cubic feet of LNG.

• In 2017, the Company discovered a “thermal anomaly” in Tank B.

• The Company did not tell the Town until August 2018.

• The tank is being emptied to inspect its interior.

• The Company is not regularly updating the Town or the Fire Chief.

• The Town has made Public Records Law requests to DPU for information.

Wilson Street Crossing

• Wilson St. runs through the center of the LNG plant.

• Pipes under Wilson St. connect the LNG tanks (west) with other facilities (east).

• Pipes run above ground close to the roadway, creating a potential hazard.

• The Town’s consultant has identified this as a key safety vulnerability.

• The Company claims that PHMSA regulations do not permit it to reconfigure the pipe to remain below grade near Wilson St.

• The Town has asked PHMSA for an Advisory Opinion.

7/9/19

3

Emergency Planning Issues

• If the Plant were built today, current regulations would require exclusion zones to act as buffers in the event of LNG release.

• A consultant retained by the Town projected that exclusion zones for a catastrophic tank failure would cover most of the Town.

• The Fire Department lacks important information to develop emergency response plans.

• The Town has no evacuation plan.

Current Management Efforts

Host Community Agreement:The Town is pursuing all avenues to negotiate a comprehensive agreement governing the Town and plant’s relationship. The Company has informed the DPU that it will not agree to an HCA.

DPU Pipeline Safety Meeting: The Fire Chief is requesting a meeting with the DPU and Company to create formal protocols to address the Tank B thermal anomaly.

Firefighter Training:The Fire Chief is seeking financial support from Eversource for specialized firefighter training in emergency response at an LNG facility. Thus far, the Company has offered support only for routine training at the Firefighter Academy.

Company Engagement:The Fire Chief and other Town officials continue to press the Company to work with the Town. Progress has recently been made by the Fire Chief on important emergency-planning documents.

7/9/19

4

Litigation Update: DPU Grant of Zoning Exemptions

• The DPU recently granted the plant an exemption from Hopkinton’s Zoning requirements

• The Town has appealed the DPU’s decision.

• As a matter of policy, the DPU declined to consider requiring HOPCO to enter into a Host Community Agreement.

• HOPCO failed to identify the Zoning exemptions it was seeking.

• Lack of evidence to support findings.

• HOPCO made a “compliance filing” as required by DPU.

• Town disputed several aspects of the compliance filing and requested further DPU action.

Litigation Update: Building Code Appeals Board

• The Director of Municipal Inspections denied two building permits for the liquefier project, based on the fact that HOPCO had not yet made its compliance filing with DPU.

• That denial was overturned by the Building Code Appeals Board in a 2-1 decision and remanded to the Director for further evaluation. The Acushnet Fire Chief voted to support the Town’s position.

• The matter is now back before the Director of Municipal Inspections for reconsideration

7/9/19

5

Other Eversource Issues

Tax Abatement Proceeding

• Eversource is seeking a tax abatement of the taxes Hopkinton has assessed on the LNG plant for Fiscal Years 2014 through 2019.

• Eversource sought and the Town denied an abatement of its assessed taxes for the plant in each of those six fiscal years.

• Eversource appealed each of those denials to the Appellate Tax Board.

• The total amount in dispute is approximately $2.6 million

• The first three denials have been consolidated and the Appellate Tax Board will hold a hearing in late September.

7/9/19

6

Hopkinton to AshlandPipeline Project

• This Project involves replacing approximately 3.71 miles of 6-inch-diameter natural gas pipe with 12-inch-diameter pipe. Approximately 1.1 miles of the replacement pipeline is in Hopkinton.

• The pipeline runs from the Wilson Street Gate Station in Hopkinton to the Pond Street Gate Station in Ashland within an existing 20 – 30-foot-wide permanent easement.

• The Conservation Commission issued an Order of Conditions for the Project.

• A hearing on Eversource’s application for Stormwater and Earth Removal Permits is scheduled.

Main Street Project

• As part of the undergrounding of utilities along Main Street, the Town will be providing conduit, at no charge to the utilities, through which the necessary wiring will run.

• Once provided, the conduit will be owned and maintained by the utilities.

• Eversource is claiming that the value of the conduit must be treated by the company as taxable income, and is therefore proposing to charge the Town a 25.6% “carrying cost” to cover the amount of taxes it will incur as a result of this transfer.

• The Town disagrees. The amount in dispute is just under $500,000.

7/9/19

7

South and West Main Project Steel Plate Issues

• Eversource’s contractor is installing an electric transmission line under South Street and West Main Street.

• The project requires trenching for placement of the line.

• During off-hours, those trenches are covered by steel metal plates.

• The contractor has failed to secure the trenches twice, causing damage to automobiles.

• After the second failure, the DPW issued a stop work order to the contractor, which the contractor violated.