'Would you want to live across from this?' Staten Island resident details life near a battery energy storage site - SILive.com

‘Would you want to live across from this?’ Staten Island resident details life near a battery energy storage site - silive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- When Barbara Egitto moved to Staten Island in 1978, her Virginia Avenue home in Rosebank was located directly across the street from a large, open field. It was one of the property’s main selling features – the stretch of park-like land was quiet, idyllic and picturesque; and for years, her children played ball in that field and skated on a nearby pond when it froze over in the winter.

But Egitto says the land changed when it was sold to Con Edison in the late 1980s, first fenced off from neighbors and then eventually developed and used by the utility. Today, after a challenging year of construction disruption, the Rosebank resident’s living room overlooks New York City’s largest battery energy storage system (BESS).
Barbara Egitto, who lives directly across the street from a BESS site in Rosebank, displays a printout of the advisories emailed to her by Con Ed. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

“Would you want to live across from this?” Egitto asked last week, standing on her front stoop as a low consistent hum radiated from rows of lithium-ion battery containers approximately 50 feet from her front door. “I have no problem with progress, but tell me this is not an inconvenient eyesore. Prove to me that this is safe.”

Egitto, an 81-year-old grandmother who shares her home with her daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren, says she’s been trying to get answers to those questions since construction of the facility was announced in April of 2022.
Rosebank residents say construction at the nearby BESS site has disrupted their lives for more than a year. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

“They sent us an email,” she said, showing a printed copy of the correspondence, which directed recipients to two websites for more information. “But that information just told us how the equipment works. It didn’t answer our questions about safety or prepare us to live with all of these disruptions.”

Egitto says Virginia Avenue residents have endured weeks of no parking and months of construction noise over the past year. And she claims that minimal information was provided about the project.
A danger sign is posted on the fence directly across from Barbara Egitto's house. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

“Anyone we asked told us we were getting an electrical upgrade,” Egitto said. “There was never any mention of lithium-ion. We only realized what this was when the news [the Staten Island Advance/SILive.com] reported on it in June.”

According to Con Ed, who announced the project in a press release this summer, the large-scale energy storage system was built to take stress off the city’s power grid, storing 7.5 megawatts of energy, and then discharging that electricity to customers for approximately four hours.
Virginia Avenue residents claim paperwork offered by Con Edison did not address the dangers associated with BESS units or the safety protocols that would be put into place. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

“We are deploying batteries to help maintain the industry-leading reliable electric service that our region needs, and our customers deserve,” Matthew Ketschke, Con Edison’s president, said in a statement to the Advance/SILive when the system went live. “The advent of large-scale energy storage technology also greatly increases our opportunities to integrate clean, renewable power into the mix and transition to a low-carbon future.”

The BESS is part of a push that is being made to satisfy Gov. Kathy Hochul’s aggressive climate and clean energy goals: A zero-emission electricity sector by 2040, including 70% renewable energy generation by 2030. But local residents and elected officials say the units are changing the character of the borough and worry that the facilities present a serious fire risk.
An aerial view of the BESS from a Virginia Avenue rooftop. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

“What’s done is done for our block,” Egitto said at a Community Board meeting in September. “But can we at least get answers about safety procedures and what will be done if something goes wrong?”
A look at the ongoing construction at the BESS site in Rosebank . (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon

Yolanda Jacobi, who has also lived on Virginia Avenue for 45 years, agrees.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Why would you put something like this in the center of a residential neighborhood? We feel like we’re living in the middle of an industrial park.”

Both Egitto and Jacobi complain that the BESS is illuminated nightly by bright, steady floodlights and fear that such deterrents will decrease the value of their homes.
At night the Rosebank battery energy storage site is illuminated by floodlights, causing Barbara Egitto to shut her bedroom door. (Courtesy Barbara Egitto)(Courtesy Barbara Egitto)

“I don’t want to sell my house, but if I do, will I get back what I have invested?” Jacobi asked.

And Virginia Avenue neighbors recently received notices that more electric upgrades will soon commence, limiting street access from now until May. But according to Con Ed, that work has nothing to do with the battery system, which is now complete. The utility says it is now focusing on the undergrounding of electrical equipment that is currently overhead and the installation of a new transmission feeder.

“Our work will help maintain the safety and reliability of our service for customers in the area,” a Con Ed rep said in a statement when told about the grievances of Virginia Avenue residents. “We try to minimize inconvenience for residents, businesses and anyone else in the area whenever we conduct work and provide the best communication we can. We regret an inconvenience.”
Barbara Egitto looks out her living room window at the BESS site in Rosebank . (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon) Jason Paderon