Babylon extends moratorium on battery storage facilities
An Albany-based company wants to build a battery storage facility on 3½ acres of industrial-zoned land on Bahama Street, which is on the left in this photo taken in January. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Babylon Town has extended its moratorium on lithium-ion battery storage facilities for another six months, making it a year of halting applications to the town for such facilities.
The battery facilities are used to complement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar by storing electrical energy that can be used to meet elevated demands at peak times. The town first enacted a six-month moratorium in June, with officials stating that they had fire and environmental concerns.
Lithium-ion batteries can overheat and explode, leading to fires that can be difficult to extinguish and may cause hazardous runoff, town officials have said. Several other towns on Long Island have enacted moratoriums, including most recently, North Hempstead.
After a hearing on Dec. 4, the board voted 5-0 to extend the moratorium. The resolution for the measure states that the board “finds it imperative” that the town “undertake a thorough examination” of the facilities to “identify any possible threats to public health, safety and welfare as well as evaluate the potential for environmental degradation.”
Babylon Chief of Staff Tom Stay said the town is continuing to do research to come up with regulations for the facilities.
“We want to get to a point where we’re comfortable, our planning department is comfortable as well as our fire marshals and fire departments,” he said. “We’re not at that point yet.”
Stay said the town will likely take the state’s fire safety code for the facilities and “make it a little more stringent” for the town, taking into consideration Babylon’s higher density.
Groups who favor alternative energy sources spoke at the hearing to try to persuade the board to end the moratorium.
Jordan Christensen of Citizens Campaign for the Environment said that battery storage facilities will be needed “not just in Babylon, in every town across Long Island” in order to use alternative forms of energy.
“We know we want to move forward with offshore wind … with rooftop solar and large-scale solar and the only way to do that is to capture that energy in a battery, deliver it to homes that need it when they need it, and stabilize the energy grid,” she told the board. “We think it’s extremely important that we don’t continue to delay our progress on climate change, because frankly, we’ve been doing it for decades and we’ve had enough of it.”
Prior to the moratorium, an application had been submitted by Albany-based KCE NY 30 LLC to build a battery storage facility in West Babylon. The company wants to construct a 50-megawatt facility on 3½ acres of industrial-zoned land next to a LIPA substation on Bahama Street.
The proposed facility would have 118 batteries each in enclosures nearly 31 feet long, nearly 6 feet wide and more than 8 feet tall, according to the company's application. The site would "predominantly operate unmanned" 24 hours a day, the application states. It would provide energy to power about 40,000 homes, the company said.
Phil Denara, director of development for Key Capture Energy (KCE), had asked the town to be excluded from the moratorium and submitted battery safety testing information from Tesla as well as an emergency operations plan for the facility. The town ultimately included the company’s application in the moratorium.
At the time, Denara told Newsday the delay would cause uncertainty for when the facility would go online and that the “scale of this battery energy storage project can take 12 months or more to construct and requires ordering equipment multiple years in advance.”
Reached last week, Denara in a statement said that the company “remains committed” to building the West Babylon facility.
“We look forward to working with the town board, fire safety officials, and other community leaders to answer any questions or concerns as we continue the development process … ,” Denara stated.
Babylon Town has extended its moratorium on lithium-ion battery storage facilities for another six months, making it a year of halting applications to the town for such facilities.
The battery facilities are used to complement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar by storing electrical energy that can be used to meet elevated demands at peak times. The town first enacted a six-month moratorium in June, with officials stating that they had fire and environmental concerns.
Lithium-ion batteries can overheat and explode, leading to fires that can be difficult to extinguish and may cause hazardous runoff, town officials have said. Several other towns on Long Island have enacted moratoriums, including most recently, North Hempstead.
After a hearing on Dec. 4, the board voted 5-0 to extend the moratorium. The resolution for the measure states that the board “finds it imperative” that the town “undertake a thorough examination” of the facilities to “identify any possible threats to public health, safety and welfare as well as evaluate the potential for environmental degradation.”
Babylon Chief of Staff Tom Stay said the town is continuing to do research to come up with regulations for the facilities.
“We want to get to a point where we’re comfortable, our planning department is comfortable as well as our fire marshals and fire departments,” he said. “We’re not at that point yet.”
Stay said the town will likely take the state’s fire safety code for the facilities and “make it a little more stringent” for the town, taking into consideration Babylon’s higher density.
Groups who favor alternative energy sources spoke at the hearing to try to persuade the board to end the moratorium.
Jordan Christensen of Citizens Campaign for the Environment said that battery storage facilities will be needed “not just in Babylon, in every town across Long Island” in order to use alternative forms of energy.
“We know we want to move forward with offshore wind … with rooftop solar and large-scale solar and the only way to do that is to capture that energy in a battery, deliver it to homes that need it when they need it, and stabilize the energy grid,” she told the board. “We think it’s extremely important that we don’t continue to delay our progress on climate change, because frankly, we’ve been doing it for decades and we’ve had enough of it.”
Prior to the moratorium, an application had been submitted by Albany-based KCE NY 30 LLC to build a battery storage facility in West Babylon. The company wants to construct a 50-megawatt facility on 3½ acres of industrial-zoned land next to a LIPA substation on Bahama Street.
The proposed facility would have 118 batteries each in enclosures nearly 31 feet long, nearly 6 feet wide and more than 8 feet tall, according to the company's application. The site would "predominantly operate unmanned" 24 hours a day, the application states. It would provide energy to power about 40,000 homes, the company said.
Phil Denara, director of development for Key Capture Energy (KCE), had asked the town to be excluded from the moratorium and submitted battery safety testing information from Tesla as well as an emergency operations plan for the facility. The town ultimately included the company’s application in the moratorium.
At the time, Denara told Newsday the delay would cause uncertainty for when the facility would go online and that the “scale of this battery energy storage project can take 12 months or more to construct and requires ordering equipment multiple years in advance.”
Reached last week, Denara in a statement said that the company “remains committed” to building the West Babylon facility.
“We look forward to working with the town board, fire safety officials, and other community leaders to answer any questions or concerns as we continue the development process … ,” Denara stated.
Denise Bonilla has worked at Newsday since 2003 and covers the Town of Babylon, including the villages of Lindenhurst and Amityville.
This is a modal window.
Inside look at Yaphank jail ... Suffolk State of the County ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
This is a modal window.
Inside look at Yaphank jail ... Suffolk State of the County ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
