The community entity
Entropy Energy Network (organizing as a 501(c)(4)) is the party that would contract with the town to deliver heat. Its operating purpose is the community benefit — affordable, lower-emission heat and grid support.
For town officials & boards
Structured for public benefit, built to clear public review.
This page outlines how the project is structured, the approval and procurement pathway under Massachusetts law, and the safeguards that keep public and private roles clearly separated. It's written to support — not replace — your own counsel and staff review.
How it's organized
A clear separation between the community entity and any private operation.
The community-facing entity is Entropy Energy Network, which is being organized as a Massachusetts 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Its primary purpose is delivering recovered heat and grid-supporting flexibility for community benefit. The computing operation is a separate party that hosts equipment and assigns its waste heat to the community entity at arm's length.
The hosted load
The computing equipment is owned and run by a separate party. It pays to host its load and assigns the resulting waste heat to the community entity — keeping the private and public roles distinct.
Arm's-length pricing
Every transfer between the parties — hosting, heat assignment, and the heat sale to the town — is priced at independently supportable, fair-market terms and documented for audit.
The approval pathway
A public process, board by board.
Nothing here is intended to bypass normal municipal review. The expected sequence runs through the same boards and the same Massachusetts statutes that govern other energy and facilities decisions.
Pre-application & siting review
Early engagement with the relevant town departments to confirm the use, the host building, and the appropriate land-use pathway before any formal filing.
Energy procurement under c.30B
A heat-purchase arrangement with the town is structured to fit Massachusetts procurement law, including the energy-contract provisions of G.L. c.30B, with the applicable competitive or exemption pathway confirmed by town counsel.
Board approvals
The agreement and any use license or lease move through the appropriate public bodies — which may include the Select Board, the School Committee for a school host, and the municipal light department — at open, posted meetings.
Permitting & inspections
Building, electrical, plumbing/gas, mechanical, and fire permits are pulled and inspected by Mansfield's own officials under the applicable Massachusetts codes before operation.
Commissioning & reporting
The system is commissioned, and performance against the agreement — heat delivered, savings, and curtailment behavior — is reported back to the town on an agreed cadence.
Safeguards
The guardrails that protect the public interest.
Conflict-of-interest compliance
The project is designed to operate within the Massachusetts conflict-of-interest law (G.L. c.268A), including appropriate recusal and disclosure by any municipal official with a connection to the parties.
Procurement integrity
Any contract with the town follows G.L. c.30B, using the correct competitive procurement or the applicable energy-contract pathway, as confirmed by town counsel — not a negotiated side deal.
Primary-purpose discipline
The 501(c)(4) will be operated so that its primary purpose remains community benefit. Related-party arrangements are priced at fair market value and documented to withstand audit.
The town keeps control
The municipality retains control of its building and its existing heating system. Recovered heat is supplemental, and the agreement defines clear performance, termination, and removal terms.
For your counsel and staff. We can provide the structural memo, the proposed agreement terms, the procurement analysis, and the code-compliance approach for independent review. The goal is a record that holds up to scrutiny, not a rushed approval.
Request the official briefing package.
We're glad to present to a board, brief staff and counsel, or sit down for a working session. Tell us who needs to be in the room.