Chester, MA Contractors: HVAC, Roofing, Plumbing & More

Chester is a Hampden County hill town of about 1,403 people in roughly 689 housing units, set deep in the Westfield River valley between Huntington and Becket. The median home age is around 71 years, with a mix of 19th-century village houses around Chester Center, mid-century homes along the Route 20 / river corridor, and back-road farmhouses on steeper terrain.

Chester has no natural gas service. Most homes heat with oil, propane, or wood. Chester's electric utility is the Chester Municipal Light Plant — a small town-owned utility, not Eversource or National Grid — which has a direct consequence for rebate eligibility (see below).

Chester Municipal Light Plant is the town's own electric utility, a municipal light plant, not Eversource or National Grid. Because Chester runs public power, residents pay none of the surcharges that fund Mass Save, so its electric rebates are unavailable, and Chester has no natural gas service, so there is no gas route either: Mass Save does not apply on any fuel. Ask Chester Municipal Light Plant about its own heat pump rebates, since it runs its own rebate program. See why hilltown municipal-electric homes sit outside Mass Save.

Massachusetts state code (780 CMR) requires a building permit for HVAC replacement in Chester, filed with the town building department. A separate electrical permit is required for new heat-pump circuits. Chester is a small part-time department; plan inspection scheduling accordingly. The West Branch of the Westfield River runs through town with extensive wetlands; Conservation Commission review is common for equipment work inside the 100-foot buffer, and parts of the river are federally designated Wild & Scenic, which can add review for nearby work.

Building permits for work in Chester go through the Chester Building Department; see the Chester Building Department’s contact, portal and who pulls the permit on permits.llc.