Bedford Imposes 'Battery Farm' Moratorium

BEDFORD, N.Y. - Bedford officials hope to wrap up their study of safety and other issues associated with so-called battery farms by early next year.

Bedford imposed a six-month moratorium on Aug. 13, saying the Town Board and zoning and planning boards will not consider any proposals for such energy storage in that time. Town officials will use the pause, Supervisor Ellen Calves said, to study safety issues, especially fire, as well as how to site these systems, which can often be sprawling installations of multiple tractor-trailer-sized containers. 

The batteries, used as temporary storage for electricity produced from renewable sources like wind and solar, are considered critical components in any transition to green-energy generation. But the track record of large energy-storage systems—they most often use potentially volatile lithium batteries—has already forced a proposed overhaul in the state fire code and prompted multiple local governments to slap a short-term freeze on their use. 

Extending Bedford’s moratorium beyond six months is doable, Town Attorney Eric Gordon said in response to a question. “There’s nothing stopping you from adopting another local law to continue the moratorium for another three to six months,” he said. “Going beyond a year is typically not considered appropriate.”  

Calves made clear her wish for a swift completion. “I do think we should endeavor to get it done in six months,” she told the board, noting that the moratorium freezes not only what she termed “utility-scale” installations but also individual-homeowner applications for even a single-battery storage facility. 

While fire concerns are “one of the first places to start,” Calves said in a later interview, the town’s review is “not only about safety; it’s about where we would allow something like this.”

Bedford Planning Director Jesica Youngblood and Director of Energy Mark Thielking are expected to have major roles in the moratorium review. 

The board’s 4-0 vote for the freeze—Councilman Andres Castillo was absent—followed a public hearing in which the environmental activist organization Bedford 2030 endorsed the moratorium.

Mariah Okrongly, a B2030 program director, said the pause “will address uncertainty and concern in our community and enable the town to move forward with the best practices in place for the approval and installation of essential battery energy-storage systems.”

In her statement, read over Zoom, Okrongly continued, “We applaud the Town Board for recognizing that battery energy-storage systems are a key component to the viability and promotion of renewable energy sources and for acting now to ensure that adoption of these essential systems can proceed in our community in a way that is safe, viable and scalable.”

Safety is expected to be a focus during the freeze, including ways to prevent fires and assurance that first responders have the training and information they need to prepare and deploy resources if fire does break out in a battery energy-storage service (BESS).

Bedford officials are “concerned about locating of BESS in proximity to residential properties and in other areas where fires in such facilities could result in substantial harm to residents and damage to properties,” Gordon, the town attorney, wrote in a memo supporting the moratorium. 

“The town is also concerned,” he said, “about other adverse environmental impacts BESS may have with respect to locating BESS on or in proximity to environmentally sensitive properties and with respect to adjacent properties.” 

Apprehension, official and otherwise, was stoked in New York last year after fires broke out at battery farms in Jefferson, Orange and Suffolk counties. In response, Gov. Kathy Hochul convened an interagency working group to recommend enhanced safety standards for battery energy-storage systems. 

Their recommendations, made public earlier this year, include potential updates to the state fire code and opportunities for defining and implementing best practices. All of that must still be formally codified. 

Calves cautioned in the interview that she hopes to wrap up Bedford’s moratorium within six months “but not if it means we don’t have clear direction from the state.”

With memories of last year’s fires still fresh, residents of Carmel and Somers this summer protested a proposed BESS facility in Mahopac near the border separating the two towns. 

East Point Energy (Charlottesville, Va.) had hoped to establish a 116-megawatt battery farm there, but in July Carmel imposed a six-month moratorium on such installations. Now, Bedford has followed suit and similar freezes were being contemplated or have been enacted in Mount Kisco, North Castle and Yonkers.

NYSEG Contract 

Continuing its commitment to clean energy, Bedford has agreed to have an independent power supplier provide renewably sourced electricity to the town’s NYSEG customers.

The Town Board voted Aug. 13 to renew participation in a power-buying contract negotiated by the municipal environmental consortium Westchester Power. Twenty-eight of the 29 participating municipalities, all members of Sustainable Westchester, are seeking a responsible low bid this month for a green supply on a one-year contract that would start Dec. 1. Somers alone has opted for a standard electricity supply.

Some 145,000 customers in the 29 Westchester communities now take part in the decade-old Community Choice Aggregation program. But Bedford has the unique distinction of being the only one with customers served by both Con Edison and New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG). 

As it did this month, the Town Board in June voted a blank check for Westchester Power, allowing it to find the best price it could from an independent energy service company (ESCO) for a green Con Ed supply. In that case, the price per kilowatt hour of renewable energy dropped by just over 2.2 cents, from 15.449 cents/kWh in the current contract to 13.298 cents in the agreement that takes effect Nov. 1.

Dan Welsh, the director of Westchester Power, told Bedford’s Town Board he expected the NYSEG low bid to come in “around where the Con Ed pricing is.”

“So, if it’s way off the charts we’d wait,” Supervisor Calves said.     

New Dawn House Hunting 

Northern Westchester’s only help center for victims of abuse by an intimate partner, family member or sexual predator may be looking for a new home.

Former Pound Ridge Police Chief David Ryan told the Town Board’s Aug. 13 meeting that the New Dawn Family Resource Center, serving five Northern Westchester towns, could soon lose its quarters in Lewisboro to the wrecking ball.

Ryan, who directs the county’s domestic violence high-risk team as well as its human-trafficking task force, said the building currently housing New Dawn is scheduled for demolition, in part or totally. For obvious security reasons, the center’s exact location is not discussed publicly. 

“They may be saving part of the building and knocking down another part, so we’re kind of in limbo,” Ryan said. “But what we don’t want to do is be stuck. We don’t want to be in a position where we have nothing, and lost opportunities elsewhere.”

McCaine Recognized

Councilwoman Stephanie McCaine was honored as a Woman of Distinction at the Town Board’s Aug. 13 meeting. 

“Stephanie, you have been absolutely exemplary,” Assemblyman Chris Burdick said to applause as the former three-term supervisor returned to town hall to present his chamber’s citation to McCaine.

Supervisor Calves had nominated her deputy for the award, saying, “Stephanie’s commitment to the residents of Bedford is unparalleled. She works tirelessly to serve and support all residents and to ensure a sense of belonging in Bedford.” 

In McCaine’s day job, the third-generation Bedford resident is associate director of admissions at her alma mater, The Harvey School.

She has also held a variety of roles with local community organizations and boards, including service as a Youth Soccer coach, Girl Scout troop leader, Bedford Community Theatre volunteer and board chair, Westchester Youth Alliance board member and Westmoreland Sanctuary advisory board member.