State officials and Hurley leadership differ on proposed battery storage facility

TOWN OF HURLEY – The Town of Hurley has set September 30 as the date for a public hearing on a moratorium on a proposed 250-megawatt electric battery storage facility on the site of the former Coleman High School.

There is much local opposition to the project, mostly to do with safety concerns, but Assemblywoman Sarahana Shrestha (D, Esopus) and Michelle Hinchey (D, Saugerties) both say there is nothing to worry about. They say the project is a typical modern battery storage project that is subject to the state’s advances codes and standards.

Town Supervisor Michael Bom is not necessarily opposed to the project, but rather its proposed location in a residential area.

Terra-Gen has contracted with Focus Media in Orange County to provide “public and media relations services, as well as local governmental relations services,” commonly known as “lobbying”, and is Terra-Gen is paying $15,000 per month for the next 12 months, according to documents obtained by Mid-Hudson News.

“The best place to put this kind of storage plant is to build a solar power plant and use the plant there. So, in other words, all of the excess solar energy can be stored in the batteries and used when necessary,” he said.

The proposed moratorium would give the town time to review concerns and adopt legislation to regulate and propose “the responsible development” of such facilities.