Babylon Town extends moratorium on battery facilities

The Town of Babylon has extended its temporary moratorium on lithium-ion battery facilities for a second time, further delaying movement on a proposed facility in West Babylon that was already in the pipeline when the town initially put on the brakes.

The town first enacted a moratorium in June of last year, then extended it by six months in December, and now again earlier this month for another six months. Town officials stated that they had fire and environmental concerns and have been working on creating a code specifically to cover the facilities.

“My position is that this is a serious topic that deserves the fullest consideration to make sure that we’re going to have all of the protective measures in place if we’re going to proceed with this,” Town Supervisor Rich Schaffer told Newsday.

Schaffer called the delay “reasonable” and noted that the town is waiting on promised code suggestions for the facilities from the state.

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 citing similar concerns.

Prior to the moratorium first being enacted, Albany-based KCE NY 30 LLC had submitted an application to the town to build a battery storage facility in West Babylon. The company proposed constructing a 50-megawatt facility on 3½ acres of industrial-zoned land next to a LIPA substation on Bahama Street.

According to the company's application, the facility would have 118 batteries each in enclosures nearly 31 feet long, nearly 6 feet wide and more than 8 feet tall and would mostly operate unmanned 24 hours a day.

Newsday  previously reported that KCE (Key Capture Energy) has the most proposed battery storage sites on Long Island, with seven eyed for Suffolk.

“The extension of the moratorium, which has been in place for over a year, is disappointing as it does make construction, financing, and other planning decisions extremely challenging,” Lucia Yu, manager of development for KCE, wrote in an email. Yu declined to provide a timeline for the project should it get approval from the town.

The proposed facility would provide energy to power about 40,000 homes, the company has said.

“This project was selected by the Long Island Power Authority as part of its long-term plan to provide a stable and reliable electric grid and Key Capture Energy remains committed to building the project to help keep the lights on in Babylon and across the region,” Yu wrote.

KCE spokesman Chris Linsmayer said in an email that the proposed facility has been designed and engineered to meet “new, very stringent” fire codes that the state is expected to adopt in the coming weeks. Once those state codes are in place, he said, “additional moratoriums are unnecessary.”

Battery facilities store electrical energy and are used to complement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power to meet elevated demands at peak times.

Schaffer said that with the new Trump administration, there are “a lot of questions coming out … in how they view these types of technology” and that the moratorium extension will give the town time “to get a better picture of how the federal government is treating these types of facilities.”

The Trump administration has already reduced federal subsidies for offshore wind and solar power but tax credits for battery facilities aren’t due to begin sunsetting until 2033.

“Our team is still assessing any impacts the bill may have, but KCE remains committed to building this project regardless of federal policy,” Linsmayer wrote.