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New Milford council enacts moratorium on battery storage projects after safety, transparency concerns
Summary
After hours of public comment and letters from local groups, the New Milford Town Council voted Jan. 26 to impose a moratorium on battery energy storage projects as residents, local officials and state legislators raised fire, water, noise and transparency concerns about a proposed Flatiron site.
Mayor Pete Bass and the New Milford Town Council on Jan. 26 approved a temporary moratorium on battery energy storage system (BESS) projects after extended public comment and written submissions about a proposed Flatiron Energy facility.
The action followed hours of testimony from residents and local boards who raised safety, environmental and procedural concerns tied to the project. Lynn Webster, chair of the New Milford Conservation Commission, and Michael M. Bird, the commission’s vice chair, read a commission letter warning that two of the three lots under consideration contain the West Aspetuck River and that a fire or toxic runoff could threaten downstream resources. The commission’s letter also cited noise complaints (estimating charging/discharging noise in the ~70 dBA range) and said soils on the site are prime farmland soils.
Other commenters echoed the concerns. Michael Kaufmann, president of the Northville Residents’ Association, told the council the association unanimously opposed the proposal, citing fire and environmental risk and nearby residential exposure. Several residents and civic groups urged the council to adopt a moratorium while the town and state review potential impacts.
Councilor Ari Rosenberg, who is also a council member, pressed the council on transparency and records. He said the public had not been informed that Flatiron representatives had met with town staff dating to 2022 and raised a pending Freedom of Information Act request seeking related records. Rosenberg said the public learned details only after Flatiron released a draft Siting Council application. Town Attorney Joe Mortelliti summarized FOI procedures for the council during the meeting.
Mayor Bass said Flatiron representatives told town officials they would “be putting a pause on the project,” and he described steps he has taken to secure outside expertise: he said he has asked for recommendations for consultants, requested a Department of Public Health opinion, and asked Public Works and town staff to identify technical reviewers. Bass said that if an application is filed, he would ask Zoning, Inland Wetlands and Planning commissions to review and provide recommendations to the Connecticut Siting Council.
State Senator Steve Harding told the meeting legislators would explore a statewide moratorium; State Representative Bill Buckbee said lawmakers on the Environment and Energy Committee are discussing the issue. Both legislators expressed support for residents pressing safety and environmental questions.
The council first suspended the rules to add the moratorium item to the agenda and then moved to approve a moratorium “on all battery energy storage projects in the Town of New Milford.” The motion was approved by the council (the transcript records it as passing unanimously). Mayor Bass and councilors said the moratorium will allow time for technical review and coordination with state authorities and the Siting Council process.
The meeting did not resolve the substantive safety or scientific questions raised by commenters; several residents urged the town to press for state-level action and for the Siting Council to deny any application on public-safety and water-supply grounds. The council did not vote on any specific application or site and said the moratorium is intended to pause local permitting activity while reviews proceed.
Next steps the council identified included obtaining health and technical reviews requested from state agencies and private consultants, and having Zoning, Inland Wetlands and Planning commissions review any formal application to produce recommendations for the Siting Council. The pending FOI request and the public’s request for meeting records were raised as outstanding items; the town attorney said FOI acknowledgement and remedy processes exist and can be brought to the FOI Commission if not resolved.
The council’s moratorium does not itself prevent a Siting Council filing; it pauses local project approvals and buys time for additional review and community engagement.
