MAHOPAC – Residents of Mahopac joined by their neighbors in Baldwin Place and Somers filled Carmel Town Hall this week to protest plans for a battery farm project proposed for a 95-acre undeveloped tract of land along Miller Road at the Putnam-Westchester County line.
Carmel Supervisor Mike Cazzari advised those in attendance that acting on advice of Town Attorney Gregory Folchetti, discussion regarding the plant would be barred since the project falls under the purview of the planning board which is an independent body.
The project before the planning noard calls for the construction of a grid-scale battery project designed to reduce the strain on the regional power grid and help reduce the length and frequency of area blackouts.
A grid-scale battery project is an energy storage system connected directly to an electric utility—in this case, NYSEG. The project would enable the utility to store electricity during off-peak hours and discharge the stored power during peak demand hours. The goal is to make the grid cleaner, more reliable, resilient, and affordable.
Scott Connuck, senior project developer for East Point Energy, based in Charlottesville, Virginia, explained his company was focusing on the area due to the “retirement of Indian Point.” He said, “the security of the grid is at risk.
In some parts of the Hudson Valley people say if the wind blows, the power goes out. This won’t stop every outage that happens but can reduce the numbers.”
Connuck appeared before the planning board last fall to present the project and seek site-plan approval.
Town planning consultant Pat Cleary noted this was the first time the town had entertained such a project which meets the town code’s initial zoning requirements.
Connuck called the Miller Road property ideal for such a project. “In our view, this site is uniquely situated for this type of project and is the best use for this site. We are adjacent to electrical infrastructure. This site has the transmission lines that we need. In addition, it is in a region of critical need. The property is isolated. We are using only a fraction of that property and it’s in the center. It will be out of sight, not heard, out of mind.”
