Yorktown pushes back against state bill on battery storage siting 

Yorktown is fighting back against a proposed state law it says would take home rule away from municipalities when it comes to the placement of battery energy storage systems (BESS), also known as battery farms. 

At the Town Board’s Feb. 3 meeting, the board unanimously passed a resolution opposing proposed legislation that it said would put the siting of battery farms into the state’s hands. 

Town officials fear that the proposed legislation — Senate Bill S5506 and Assembly Bill A8378 — will override the zoning codes and moratoriums established by various towns and villages throughout the state, leaving the decision of where a BESS can be installed to the state Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES). 

The Yorktown resolution is similar to one recently passed by the Carmel Town Board, which also banned large battery farms after Virginia-based East Point Energy sought to build one in Mahopac right near its border with Somers. 

However, with the help of an activist movement made up of residents from both Somers and Mahopac, the town was able to shut down the plan. Residents from both communities pressured the Carmel Town Board to reject the site plan application. In early 2025, East Point Energy withdrew its plan for the 116-megawatt facility. Shortly after, the board amended its town code to ban battery farms of that size altogether. 

Like Carmel, the Yorktown resolution will be sent to members of state government, including the governor’s office. 

“This is contrary to town zoning that we passed eliminating battery energy storage. They are now trying to take it out of our hands and disrupt home rule and make it a state decision,” Supervisor Ed Lachterman said. “I want to send this [up to Albany] opposing [the proposed law].” 

Councilwoman Susan Siegel said she read the bill and it noted that it states that an applicant can go to the state agency and request the state agency handle the permitting. 

“It doesn’t take away our right. It gives the applicant the ability to bypass us,” she said. 

But Lachterman replied that that was a difference without distinction. 

“Well, then it does take away our rights,” he said. 

Councilman Sergio Esposito agreed. 

“It clearly takes home rule away from us,” he said. 

Lachterman said when applicants discover a municipality has banned battery farms, they will simply bypass it and go to the state. 

The resolution reads in part: 

While the stated intent of Senate Bill S5506 and Assembly Bill A8378 is to advance the state’s renewable energy goals and reduce emissions, the bill would significantly limit local municipal control over land use, zoning, and public safety decisions by transferring permitting authority from local governments to a centralized state agency; and 

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) have been shown to pose serious risks to public health, safety, and welfare, including but not limited to fires, explosions, toxic smoke, thermal runaway events, and the release of hazardous chemicals; and 

A cursory search of the internet reveals that since 2012, approximately 35 fires have occurred at BESS sites, with limited information publicly available regarding the causes of those fires or the long-term health or environmental risks resulting from those fires; and 

Risks posed by BESS are not theoretical, as demonstrated by four separate BESS fires within a two-year period, three of which occurred in Warwick, New York, and all of which resulted in documented health hazards to nearby residents and challenges to emergency responders, and ultimately led the local municipal government to condemn a site due to safety concerns; and whereas these incidents underscore the reality that BESS fires can overwhelm local emergency services, expose emergency responders and residents to toxic conditions, and render surrounding areas unsafe for extended periods of time; and 

Whereas the Town of Yorktown is located almost wholly within the Croton Watershed, which is a major source of drinking water for New York City’s approximately 8.5 million residents; and 

Senate Bill S5506 and Assembly Bill A8378 would enable the siting of large-scale energy storage facilities through ORES in a manner that may override local zoning laws, emergency preparedness standards, and community-specific safety concerns, even though local governments are most familiar with their infrastructure, population density, environmental conditions, and emergency response capabilities. 

Be it resolved that the Town Board of the town of Yorktown formally opposes New York State Senate Bill S5506 and Assembly Bill A8378 in their current forms; be it further resolved that the Town Board of Yorktown demands that the State of New York respect and honor home rule and affirms that local municipalities must retain full authority over the review, siting, and permitting of battery energy storage systems to protect and ensure their residents’ health, safety, and welfare.