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Amherst board adopts guardrails for battery energy storage after fire and cybersecurity concerns
Summary
The town board adopted a local law placing BESS uses in limited districts, requiring 500‑foot setbacks, screening rules and emergency response plans after residents and firefighters raised concerns about fires, toxic emissions and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
The Amherst Town Board on July 27 adopted a new local law that will regulate battery energy storage systems (BESS) in the town, establishing permitted locations, setbacks and operational requirements designed to reduce public safety and environmental risk.
Town planning staff summarized a single substantive amendment negotiated after outreach with a utility representative that allows certain utility‑mandated mechanical equipment to be permitted and screened by the planning board under specified standards. The board reopened the public hearing to receive additional correspondence before taking action.
Several members of the public and subject‑matter experts urged caution. Kevin Kumpf, who identified himself as an energy and critical‑infrastructure cybersecurity professional, said he supported the technology’s use but asked the board to address "the cybersecurity and the fire hazards" and cited major fires elsewhere: "In the state, there's been 3 major fires. There was a Warwick fire in 2025," he said. Volunteer firefighters and residents described the firefighting challenges, including large water needs and hazardous combustion byproducts; one firefighter, Bonnie McPeek, said she was worried about smoke, hydrogen fluoride and other emissions and said the town’s volunteer force may not have capacity to fight a large BESS fire.
Town staff and counsel responded that the law is intentionally incremental, limits utility‑scale principal uses, relies on the recently updated New York State fire code, and requires emergency response plans and on‑site industry incident personnel for several hours after any event. Staff also noted the law sets a 500‑foot setback (not the 300 feet some speakers requested) and that site planning and fire inspector concurrence will govern placement and final approval. After discussion, the board voted to approve the local law and the associated SEQRA/SECRA determinations.
The law establishes standards that a future project would have to meet during site‑plan review; no specific BESS installation or site was pending approval at the meeting. Residents were encouraged to review the local law online and to take part in planning‑board site‑plan review when a project comes forward.
