Planning board hears technical briefing on proposed battery energy storage site at 114 Hartley Road; experts flag fire‑safety, aquifer and review needs

The Town of Goshen Planning Board heard a technical briefing on a proposed Tier 2 battery energy storage system (BESS) at 114 Hartley Road, a 31.2‑acre site that the applicant plans to subdivide into two lots, each intended to host a 5‑megawatt power installation with roughly a four‑hour duration (about 20 megawatt‑hours of energy per lot as presented).

Presenters included New Leaf Energy’s Michael Conway (senior director and business lead for energy storage), engineer Travis (site engineer, Crate Manning), and Paul Rogers, co‑founder of Energy Response Safety Group and a former head of FDNY hazardous materials, who addressed safety, monitoring and code requirements.

What the board heard

- Project configuration and schedule: The applicant said plans are revised to include two lots; each lot is proposed to provide a 5 MW power delivery capability with four hours of energy storage (presented as 5 MW / 20 MWh per pad). The team is coordinating with Orange & Rockland (O&R) on distribution poles and will submit updated plans, a zoning board application for variances, and a subdivision application to form the two lots. The project team intends to return to the planning board in subsequent submissions; staff discussed a likely submission deadline in early June to place the next materials on a mid‑June agenda.

- Equipment and technology: Conway and staff explained the distinction between the megawatt (power) rating and megawatt‑hours (energy storage)…