Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Energy Battery Storage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board discusses potential battery storage lease, cites roughly $2.5M revenue
Summary
Board members and residents debated a proposed battery storage lease near Mountain Avenue. Mayor DeSalvo said the village has only begun discussions about a potential lease that could generate about $2.5 million in non-tax revenue; no votes or approvals were taken.
The Village of Highland Falls board spent a portion of its May 4 meeting introducing a prospective battery storage facility and answering early public questions about safety, site control and revenue.
Mayor DeSalvo (S1) emphasized the board has only begun conversations and has not approved any project. "It's a potential revenue source that's non fee or tax to the residents of this community at approximately $2,500,000," he said, adding the board has spoken with a contractor and intends to share information with the public before taking any action. The mayor also noted that utilities and owners sometimes proceed under their own authority: "They're a utility. Guess what? They don't need your okay." (S1)
Several residents urged caution and flagged safety and hydrology concerns. Mary Savo (S8) suggested looking at self-contained concrete enclosures for battery systems to limit external risk; Edward Dunn (S4) described battery projects as chiefly "a moneymaker" that arbitrage electricity rather than guaranteeing blackout protection. "They take power out of the grid and they put power back into the grid," Dunn said. (S4)
The board acknowledged social-media debate about the project and said any lease or local oversight would be preceded by further study, engineering review and public meetings. The mayor noted one possible trigger for a project would be if ONR decommissions the transport transfer station on Mountain Avenue, but he reiterated no approvals have been issued and the village still needs to negotiate permitting, emergency planning and water-supply impacts.
Next steps: the board said it will continue fact-finding and hold additional public discussions before any vote. No formal action or contract award related to the battery facility occurred at this meeting.
