Letters

Reading last week’s editorial, “Behind the Curtain” [August 17], I was pleased to learn that you advocate greater public disclosure requirements for limited liability companies. As you phrased it so well: “Citizens have a right to know who they are dealing with, whether it be in government or private enterprise.”

I congratulate you on your editorial epiphany. But it would have been useful if you had applied this vigilant principle earlier in the BESS Canal debate and asked: “Who are these guys?” Specifically, just who are these friendly folks who want to jam 100 million-watt hours of combustible battery storage into a peaceful, residential community?

That’s what my neighbors were asking when the full import of that impending travesty hit them this spring. Turns out the 1-year-old outfit that wants to slap 30 trailer-sized vaults of lithium batteries onto a hill overlooking our homes goes by the name of Southampton Battery Storage LLC. The last three letters, standing for “limited liability company,” tell the whole story.

An LLC is a shell company, an entity that affords liability protection when things go wrong. In other words: If BESS blows up, don’t blame us. Blame this piece of paper registered in Delaware.

But wait a minute: Weren’t we assured that nothing, or almost nothing, could ever go wrong at Canal BESS? So why do they need a shell company — in fact, lots of them? And why are they worrying so much about their safety and imperiling ours? After all, we’re the ones being forced to cozy up to this pile of explosives, not them, whoever they are.

Turns out the folks who want to be our new neighbors, on paper anyway, have about as many shells as Peconic Bay. Follow this trail if you can. Start with Rhynland Energy LLC. They pitched the Canal BESS idea for Canal Southampton Battery Storage LLC, owned by Nala U.S. Storage Inc., part of Nala Renewables, headquartered in the United Kingdom. Now for the exciting part: Nala Renewables is a joint venture put together by IFM Ventures, an investment portfolio manager in Melbourne, Australia, and Trafigura, a commodities trading giant in Singapore.

If you’re having trouble following this now, just wait for a thermal runaway and try to sort it out.

All that still doesn’t answer the question: “Who are these guys?” Are there more corporate veils behind these veils? Are there skeletons in those corporate closets? And when a battery explodes, whose feet do we hold to the fire?

With your new commitment to transparency, you should ask some questions and share some answers. “Citizens have a right to know who they are dealing with.”

Bill Muir

Hampton Bays