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Residents ask Chautauqua County Legislature for moratorium on battery energy storage projects
Summary
A county resident warned of safety and environmental risks from battery energy storage systems and urged a countywide moratorium to give towns time to adopt protective local laws.
Karen Engstrom of Chautauqua Energy Watch addressed the legislature during the second privilege of the floor to raise safety, environmental and local-control concerns about proposed battery energy storage systems (BES) in the county.
Engstrom distributed informational materials and urged legislators to consider a countywide moratorium to allow towns time to draft protective ordinances. She cited risks such as thermal runaway, fire and toxic gas release, disposal challenges for battery waste and long-term environmental contamination risks to water systems.
"When real energy production is operating, there is no justification for battery energy storage systems," Engstrom said, urging attention to towns’ capacity to regulate installations and asking the legislature to provide breathing room for local lawmaking.
The legislature did not act on the request during the meeting; Engstrom asked members to review the materials and to communicate with their local trustees.
