Oyster Bay puts pause on battery energy storage sites

The Oyster Bay Town Board has approved a six-month moratorium on battery energy storage sites that stalls any movement on proposals for two such facilities that are pending. 

No sites are in operation now in Oyster Bay.

The board voted 6-0 on Tuesday to approve the moratorium, with one council member absent.

Lithium-ion battery storage facilities are used to complement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power by storing electrical energy that can be used to meet elevated energy demands at peak times. If the batteries overheat, however, they can combust and create fires that are difficult to extinguish using conventional methods.

Their use has raised concerns after fires last year at three separate facilities across the state.

Last week, the Town of Southold extended its initial one-year ban on battery energy storage sites for another year, Newsday reported. The towns of Southampton and Huntington have moratoriums in place. Babylon and Islip are considering moratoriums.

Bayport-based Bay Environmental made a recommendation to Oyster Bay's town board for the six-month moratorium at a Feb. 27 public hearing after the town hired the firm to review local code and concerns about the facilities.

Andrew Thyberg, who presented the company’s recommendation, previously said the battery facilities are “generally safe,” but their technology carries “potential risks.” He added that the town should wait for a state working group to finalize its report on fire safety before allowing any proposals to move forward in Oyster Bay.

Town officials have provided preliminary feedback on a December 2022 application for a 275-megawatt project known as Oyster Shore Energy Storage that was proposed for the hamlet of Glenwood Landing, Oyster Bay spokesman Brian Nevin said previously. 

Nevin said that project and another facility proposed for Hicksville a day before the town board's moratorium vote wouldn't be able to move forward during the pause.

A lawyer for Calpine Corporation, an energy company with a natural gas and steam plant in Hicksville, said at Tuesday's meeting that the company filed an application Monday with Oyster Bay to add a battery energy storage site adjacent to its plant.

Melville-based attorney Garrett Gray asked town board members to delay a decision on the moratorium until their next meeting to give them time to consider whether Calpine's proposal should be excluded from any pause.

But the vote went forward.

Glenwood Landing resident Beth Costello was among a group of residents at Tuesday's meeting angered about the possible placement of a battery energy storage site in their neighborhood. She presented the town with a petition listing 700 signatures of people who expressed concern about the Glenwood Landing proposal.

“We’re all for the moratorium, and then some,” Costello said.

The town's moratorium has an option for two six-month extensions, according to Nevin.

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ