St. Armand bans battery energy storage systems, passes solar moratorium

BLOOMINGDALE — The St. Armand town board unanimously passed a townwide ban on battery energy storage systems after a divided public hearing on Monday. The board also unanimously passed a less-controversial one-year moratorium on commercial and community solar energy farms.

Public comment in the BESS hearing was split between neighbors of the proposed project site on Trudeau Road, who largely said that they don’t oppose BESS, but that they don’t want one near their home and other local residents who don’t live as close to the facility asking the council to rethink a townwide ban and use the nine months left in its moratorium to craft a more precise law.

Opponents of the ban said moratoriums are meant to allow time for making informed decisions, and to pass a ban so soon into the moratorium seemed “hasty.”

Neighbors asked the town council to protect them, from concerns of fire, contamination and noise pollution.

BESS supporters said fears about these facilities are often based on old information as the technology’s safety has progressed rapidly in recent years.

Still, several neighbors of the project repeatedly said that’s easy to say when the facility is not within eyesight.

Opponents of the ban urged the board to keep the moratorium and then work carefully on the wording for a law to address this specific project, instead of a blanket townwide ban.

“Clearly, the residents of St. Armand that are closest to the proposed BESS facility are highly opposed to it,” Thurston said.

She said her job is to represent the citizens and be their voice.

There may be issues with the local law as proposed, but she said they can always amend it, and it can be repealed at any time.

Thurston said she’s not unwilling to look at other things in the future, but that the town board’s job is to protect residents.

Councilman Karl Law said the project was “not a slam dunk.” Carson had their chance to pitch it, and he said it was the town’s idea to give them a podium to hold a public forum, but they failed to get the public’s support. Everyone was in agreement that the public hearing Carson Power led at the Mount Pisgah Lodge was unhelpful. Members of the public called it a “trainwreck” and described leaving frustrated.

Councilwoman Donna Whitelaw said she empathizes with both sides of the debate, but feels that the ban protects residents right now and can be changed down the road.

Councilman J.P. O’Neil said he sees both arguments, but is leaning toward the side of the people that live near the site. He wouldn’t want one in his backyard and doesn’t think anyone would.

Energy storage facilities gather extra energy from the grid during low-demand times and hold it for peak-demand times. They stabilize energy production and supply and avoid outages. It can also subdue prices through this steadier supply, as energy prices spike when demand is high.

It also allows energy derived from renewable sources like solar or wind to be held in storage for times when the sun isn’t shining or wind isn’t blowing. These batteries charge overnight when there’s low demand and low cost. They don’t discharge every day — or even on most days — but are used on high-demand days to use the grid more reliably.

Sue Abbott-Jones and Kathy Daggett, who live nearby, circulated a petition asking for the board to not outright ban BESS and got 64 signatures from town residents. Though, Thurston said, only one signature came from someone living within one mile of the facility.

Abbott-Jones and Daggett said the people who signed the petition genuinely want more information about BESS. They said some people knew of the controversy, and wouldn’t sign the petition because of that, but did not know much about the actual proposed project. Others were hearing about it for the first time, they added.

“I am afraid for our planet,” Abbott-Jones said. “Our grid is in danger.”

With ever-increasing electric demand, she said the grid does not have a critical supply problem right now, but the potential is growing.

Harrietstown Councilman David Lynch felt that the law will create “unnecessary red tape” for future town boards who may want to upgrade the grid.

Lynch urged the board to use the rest of the time in the moratorium to create a better law.

He also took issue with the law stating that “utility scale BESS pose a unique hazard with regard to technology used in such batteries and tendency of the batteries to catch fire.”

“These batteries do not have a tendency to catch fire,” he said. “They have a tendency to not catch fire, and increasingly so.”

Referencing data from the Electric Power Research Institute, he said there is a massive drop in BESS fire incidences despite a massive increase in deployment.

Lynch said that the law does not provide sources to claims that a BESS fire could release harmful toxins into the air and that it fails to address new battery chemistries and technological advances that make BESS fires less common and less dangerous.

When they do fail, environmental studies have consistently found the surrounding area to have no risk to public health or ecosystem, he said..

Project neighbor Larry Sweeney shared the recent example of a lawsuit in Long Island alleging that a 2023 fire at a BESS system installed in 2018 contaminated drinking wells with “forever chemicals.” The lawsuit alleges that the water used to extinguish the fire pushed the PFAS chemicals into the ground,

While new protocols for BESS fires call for firefighters to let the fire burn out rather than actually extinguishing it, Thurston said they wet down the area to avoid fire spreading, which she feels brings a risk of contamination. The area has several drinking water wells and drains into the Saranac River.

Nancy Bernstein said the ban can be reversed, but even so, it is a very strong statement, especially so early in the moratorium.

Bernstein said the substation is undersized for the amount of electricity that goes through it and a good site for a BESS. The batteries could be placed further away from the residents.

BESS can be up to several miles away from a substation, but are more expensive to install and result in power losses during transmission.

Patricia Barnett, from Plattsburgh, said that land use laws require objective justification. Like math, you have to show your work, she said. Barnett said the law does not include information justifying moving from temporary to permanent ban before the moratorium expires.

A moratorium is a planning tool, she said, and passing a ban three months after the moratorium began is an “extraordinary step.”

“How does the community know in good faith that the same won’t happen to a subsequent moratorium?” Barnett asked.

Susan Sweeney, one of closest neighbors to the site, said a group of neighbors emailed Carson Power a list of questions the day before the meeting. Representatives said they did not see it. Sweeney said they have sent the questions again, but have not received answers yet.

Questions included what exactly is the grid problem this proposed BESS facility would solve? What makes Trudeau Road the desired location? What are the quantifiable benefits to residents? What specific outages in the past 10 years would a BESS mitigate? What is the protocol for firefighters in the event of a fire, and is there an increased risk of fire as BESS facilities age?

For Sweeney, the project carries “far too much risk.”

Pat Hogan said he supports green energy like wind and solar, but that BESS is “not a green project.” It holds some power from solar or wind energy, but not exclusively.

Carson Power representatives told him that after the Big Beautiful Bill passed, solar and wind money dried up and the company had to pivot. He did not feel that comfortable with the proposed St. Armand BESS being one of the first Carson Power builds.

Hogan said much of the local grid is infrastructure circa WWII and felt it would be better for the community to fix up the grid, instead.

Tom Hesseltine, a direct neighbor to the proposed BESS site, said he has quality of life concerns about noise. The substation already produces around 60-90 decibels, enough to drive someone crazy, he said. A BESS puts off noise with a similar amount of decibels. Having twice the sound would not be pleasant, he said.

Alison King said the town can say “no” to the specific company or the specific site without banning BESS townwide.

King pointed out that one of the moratorium’s stated goals was to prepare zoning ordinances and amend the town comprehensive plan. That has not happened, she said.

“A ban is not urgent,” King said.

She also worried that the law will go beyond banning utility-scale BESS. The law defines BESS as systems having an energy capacity greater than 600 kilowatt hours. King worried that the law would limit personal or business BESS installation. Thurston said the town is checking with its attorney about this.

King also had concerns over the law defining BESS as “one or more devices assembled together … comprised of more than one storage battery technology in a room.” This would apply to a lot of types of batteries other than BESS, she said — like a cellphone being in the same room as a battery drill.

Thurston said the town’s attorney recommended this language and she trusts they were accurate.

A man who signed in as “Z Smith” said the proposal at this location might suck, but it doesn’t require a townwide ban.

Smith lives part-time in New Orleans, where nine utility lines connect the city to the grid. In 2021, all nine went down during Hurricane Ida resulting in more than a week without power. But some living complexes had BESS, and their air conditioning stayed on.

He said utility companies pay the BESS operators for the privilege of being able to call on the batteries during peak power times.

Bernstein said the town could have worked with the company to sign a community host agreement passing savings on to residents.

Councilman O’Neil said he asked Carson Power representatives how a BESS would benefit the community and could not get a solid figure on that. He said it was “disheartening” to not hear the actual benefit of BESS.

Thurston said the town was told residents could save money in a roundabout way, but she does not see how customers would actually get a benefit.

A BESS could increase the grid’s energy capacity at peak usage times, she said, but she does not believe it can prevent the types of outages that occur most often around here — a tree falling on a line.

Denise Griffin said that states like California and Texas are using lots of BESS with good results and no catastrophic disasters.

Diana Strablow said she’s seen “rampant misinformation” across the Adirondacks about BESS, with activists setting up Facebook pages and contacting town boards. These pages often share old information about BESS, she said.

Strablow said Carson did not do the best job of informing the public, but they did try their best while “under fire.”

She looked up recent examples of gas explosions in New York and rattled off numerous cases in recent months of gas tanks and lines exploding or leaking, killing and injuring people and burning homes.

A community solar farm has been proposed at Trudeau Field, the field across from the school bus garage. The energy generated from these panels is proposed to be purchased by town residents at a lower rate.

Thurston said that the town does not have zoning requirements for community solar projects regulating their use or decommissioning. She wants to give the town time to adopt a local law to regulate such installations. That’s why the council passed the moratorium.

Thurston said the company, Our Generation LLC, is sending representatives to talk to the board about the project at their next meeting on July 21 at 6:30 p.m.

Smith said, in New Orleans, he has seen community solar reduce electric prices. He volunteered for any possible citizen advisory committee.

Nancy Bernstein, an energy circuit rider for ANCA, also offered her services in the town crafting a solar law.

Councilman Law said a moratorium is a smart choice, to slow the process down so everyone can be well-educated.

Councilwoman Whitelaw said she likes that it invites community involvement and hopes it can work to benefit everyone.

Councilman O’Neil said the company has offered a percentage discount on electricity bills for residents who sign up. The specifics of this agreement are still yet to be worked out.

He pointed out that only so many people can be part of the community solar program, so he questioned how it benefits the community. But he said representatives from the company said they could potentially create a contract where town residents can sign up first.