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Governor Kathy Hochul.
Just days after the Southampton Town Board’s recent decision to enact a six-month moratorium on battery energy storage systems proposed in the town, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the creation of an Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group “to ensure the safety and security of energy storage systems across the state.”
Hochul’s announcement comes after fires — or “thermal runaway events” — broke out at lithium-battery facilities in Jefferson, Orange and Suffolk counties earlier this year.
The Suffolk County fire occurred at a battery energy storage system (BESS) facility in East Hampton in late May and was a major factor animating the Town Board’s recent vote to approve the moratorium, along with intense public pushback.
Hampton Bays residents have spoken up largely in opposition to a proposed BESS facility in the hamlet, citing threats of fire and groundwater contamination among a litany of fears and concerns.
The trio of recent fires may represent an accretion of unintended consequences as the Hochul administration continues with a robust push for a carbon-neutral future New York State that relies heavily on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, and that requires these BESS facilities to store and transfer the power they create to the electrical grid.
“Energy storage facilities play a critical role in the state’s efforts to reduce the emissions that contribute to climate change,” Hochul wrote, “and help the state achieve its ambitious climate goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.”
Despite three fires at BESS facilities this summer, Hochul said BESS fires are “exceedingly rare,” as she called on the Working Group to “independently examine energy storage facility fires and safety standards.”
To that end, the Working Group will “begin immediate inspections of energy storage sites,” and ensure that first responders have the training and information “to prepare and deploy resources in the event of a fire.”
