Letters

Last week, articulate members of our community rightfully castigated this newspaper group for trying to be reasonable, grandfatherly, expert and wise while they opine with their head in the sand.

Many of the rest of the community may not be as articulate but they certainly share the sentiment.

Opposition to battery energy storage systems in a residential community will continue.

“Coincidentally,” this week a rumor circulated that the perpetrator of Canal BESS is tired of waiting. The law is on his side. All that has been done is by the book. He is ready to sue to get what is his.

One just feels his angst. Money, time and money is all at risk.

“Coincidentally,” a consultant from the energy world but new to the world of BESS has been hired after vigorous searching over many, many months to help with “planning and land use code amendments” for BESS. Since the consultant is new to this business, one need not be steeped in consultancy to understand that the cost of the consultant is a loss leader for future BESS “land use” business. One can be sure after much effort the consultancy will judiciously opine whatever the town wants.

“Coincidentally,” this BESS imbroglio is helped a bit by new fire codes and other safety measures ordained by the state that will ensure that only half of your house will burn down and the damage limited by trained personnel. And catastrophic events don’t happen very often, anyway. That’s why they are called accidents.

The town has fulfilled its pledge to rethink BESS by enacting a moratorium and hiring a consultant. The state helped by tightening safety and fire regulations.

So, one might ask, isn’t it time now for the people of Hampton Bays to compromise? Allow a smaller Canal BESS and only a quarter of a house will burn. There will be less environmental damage, the traffic choke point was there anyway.

And we need BESS.

The state apparatchik designed, and falsely costed the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019. It has been swallowed whole by the lemmings of our county.

In a righteous quest for sustainable energy, BESS is helping dig a cost and electricity hole that we taxpayers will have to fill from our wallets. The western Atlantic is not the North Sea, and windmills will not lead us from our overuse of fossil fuel. BESS will not save us.

Let’s all take a deep breath.

Start by removing BESS from a residential community. Because once we start, we will not stop this “land use.” And, if we do not, something may go wrong. It usually does. People may get hurt, or worse.

Steve Crispinelli

Hampton Bays