Brookhaven Town to build 1.9-megawatt battery storage facility in Patchogue

Amid a patchwork of moratoriums blocking construction of utility-scale battery storage facilities across Long Island, Brookhaven Town on Friday said it is about to become host to one of the first new battery storage units to be constructed since LIPA approved two units on the East End in 2018.

Construction of a 1.9 megawatt battery facility is expected to begin in two weeks on a property owned by Brookhaven Town in Patchogue. The facility will be built behind an existing town vehicle repair garage and impound yard on the property, at 550 North Ocean Ave., near Sunrise Highway.

The facility is flanked by a funeral home on one side, a church across the street and homes to its west and north with a wood buffer. Town Attorney Annette Eaderesto said its location in the back of the yard will keep it a safe distance from nearby homes. The town fire marshal reviewed and approved the site plan, she said.

Fran Lunati, who has led Brookhaven residents in opposing a much larger battery storage facility proposed for Holtsville, said she was "shocked" to hear the town approved the facility without public input. 

"I had no idea about it," she said. "My fears are still there. They're jumping ahead with these things without safety as their first priority ... I feel it's just too close" to homes.

Brookhaven Town will receive around $10,000 in lease payments annually for the batteries on its land and a 10% discount on its energy bills, Eaderesto said. As town-owned land, the property is tax exempt, so the battery developer, Agilitas Energy Inc., won’t make tax payments.

"It’s not a big project," said Eaderesto. The batteries will be held in four separate containers behind the vehicle repair building, she said, and surrounded by trees once finished. "It will be fully screened," she said.

Brookhaven has approved the Holtsville project, which officials say is needed to help store power from the Sunrise Wind farm, which has long been supported by the town and will bring more than $100 million in community benefit and tax payments over more than two decades. The Holtsville facility is to be located on a lot off the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway, just west of the Island 16 movie theater.

The Sachem Central School District has sued to block that project, and many local residents, including Suffolk Legis. Anthony Piccirillo (R-Holtsville), have raised objections to its proximity to homes, schools and businesses.

Brookhaven is among only a handful of Long Island towns that have not declared a moratorium on battery storage units, which have drawn scrutiny after a fire at a facility in East Hampton last May. Two other units experienced fires upstate, and Gov. Kathy Hochul convened a task force to review them and implement tougher fire safety codes.

The Patchogue storage unit will be a lithium-ion battery, like others across the state and the country. Eaderesto said batteries are essential to the green energy transition because the wind isn’t always blowing and it’s not always sunny, so the grid needs backup power. "If you’re going to do [green energy], you need these batteries," she said. "Brookhaven Town believes we can have these and they can be safe."

The facility is taking up "only a small corner" of the town-owned lot, Eaderesto said. "This is an area that we basically didn’t use," she said. "We tried to keep it away from any houses."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.