Smithtown extends moratorium on battery storage systems
Smithtown officials have extended their pause on the building and construction of battery energy storage systems for another three months.
The Smithtown Town Board voted 5-0 at its recent public meeting to extend the moratorium. The board first passed a three-month moratorium in September, and that will now continue until April 23.
The town in September had passed the measure after local fire departments in May asked for a six-month moratorium to study safe ways to contain fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, which many of the storage systems use.
The departments made the request due to the complexity of putting out such fires, which can’t be easily doused with water due to the potential for reignition.
The latest development again highlights safety concerns with the systems together with the perceived need for them from an environmental standpoint.
Casey Petrashek, deputy director of politics for the New York League of Conservation Voters, said in an interview Tuesday that battery energy storage systems are “a vital part” of the transition toward cleaner energy.
“They are going to help ensure that our electric grid is reliable and they will help to shut down dirty power plants that are polluting our communities and poisoning our country,” Petrashek said. Delays in building “the energy infrastructure of the future” would only be detrimental to “the environment, our bottom lines and our kids,” she said.
Several other Long Island communities have enacted moratoriums on battery energy storage systems due to safety concerns, including Southampton, Oyster Bay, Southold, Huntington and Babylon. Brookhaven does not plan to propose a similar measure and has taken a welcoming stance toward the systems, Newsday previously reported.
The debates around the systems started after a fire at a storage facility in East Hampton in May 2023. Newsday previously reported it took 30 hours to extinguish that fire.
Michael Barry, president of the Fire Chiefs Council of Suffolk County, said Tuesday that Long Island towns have been examining how safe battery energy storage systems are while addressing the public’s concerns about them.
The extension of a moratorium, he said, “would be to answer some of those questions and get some of those concerns out of the way … no matter what time frame we’re looking at, we’ll have to adapt from the fire side.”
“If people are comfortable with six months [as a moratorium], then I can be comfortable with six months,” Barry said. “If people are comfortable with three months, then you have to step it up with making sure that all your members are trained. And we are moving forward with getting as much training out there as possible.”
Assistant Town Attorney Simone Freeman said at the Smithtown hearing, held Jan. 23, that the state Interagency Fire Safety Group has recommended updating the state’s fire safety code. In addition, Freeman said, the town needs more time to review a new set of guidelines issued last July by the New York State Research and Development Authority.
In July, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced proposed updates to the fire code based on the Interagency Fire Safety Group’s recommendations. They included measures such as requiring emergency response plans at the battery energy storage system facilities, and including perimeter fences or security barriers and a map of such sites.
Freeman said extending the moratorium was “necessary to thoroughly vet and consider these recommendations and proposed changes, and it would be premature to let the moratorium expire at this point.”
As for the battery storage systems themselves, “I don’t think [they] are going away,” Barry, of the Fire Chiefs Council, said. “It’s here to stay, so we have to either embrace it and work with it, or we try to fight against it, and I think that’s going to be a losing battle.”
Smithtown officials have extended their pause on the building and construction of battery energy storage systems for another three months.
The Smithtown Town Board voted 5-0 at its recent public meeting to extend the moratorium. The board first passed a three-month moratorium in September, and that will now continue until April 23.
The town in September had passed the measure after local fire departments in May asked for a six-month moratorium to study safe ways to contain fires caused by lithium-ion batteries, which many of the storage systems use.
The departments made the request due to the complexity of putting out such fires, which can’t be easily doused with water due to the potential for reignition.
The latest development again highlights safety concerns with the systems together with the perceived need for them from an environmental standpoint.
Casey Petrashek, deputy director of politics for the New York League of Conservation Voters, said in an interview Tuesday that battery energy storage systems are “a vital part” of the transition toward cleaner energy.
“They are going to help ensure that our electric grid is reliable and they will help to shut down dirty power plants that are polluting our communities and poisoning our country,” Petrashek said. Delays in building “the energy infrastructure of the future” would only be detrimental to “the environment, our bottom lines and our kids,” she said.
Several other Long Island communities have enacted moratoriums on battery energy storage systems due to safety concerns, including Southampton, Oyster Bay, Southold, Huntington and Babylon. Brookhaven does not plan to propose a similar measure and has taken a welcoming stance toward the systems, Newsday previously reported.
The debates around the systems started after a fire at a storage facility in East Hampton in May 2023. Newsday previously reported it took 30 hours to extinguish that fire.
Michael Barry, president of the Fire Chiefs Council of Suffolk County, said Tuesday that Long Island towns have been examining how safe battery energy storage systems are while addressing the public’s concerns about them.
The extension of a moratorium, he said, “would be to answer some of those questions and get some of those concerns out of the way … no matter what time frame we’re looking at, we’ll have to adapt from the fire side.”
“If people are comfortable with six months [as a moratorium], then I can be comfortable with six months,” Barry said. “If people are comfortable with three months, then you have to step it up with making sure that all your members are trained. And we are moving forward with getting as much training out there as possible.”
Assistant Town Attorney Simone Freeman said at the Smithtown hearing, held Jan. 23, that the state Interagency Fire Safety Group has recommended updating the state’s fire safety code. In addition, Freeman said, the town needs more time to review a new set of guidelines issued last July by the New York State Research and Development Authority.
In July, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced proposed updates to the fire code based on the Interagency Fire Safety Group’s recommendations. They included measures such as requiring emergency response plans at the battery energy storage system facilities, and including perimeter fences or security barriers and a map of such sites.
Freeman said extending the moratorium was “necessary to thoroughly vet and consider these recommendations and proposed changes, and it would be premature to let the moratorium expire at this point.”
As for the battery storage systems themselves, “I don’t think [they] are going away,” Barry, of the Fire Chiefs Council, said. “It’s here to stay, so we have to either embrace it and work with it, or we try to fight against it, and I think that’s going to be a losing battle.”
Source link
