It was a week of whiplash for the proposed battery storage project at the former John A. Coleman Catholic High School site. Ulster’s Town Board issued a “positive declaration” under SEQRA, triggering a full environmental review, as neighboring Hurley voted in a six-month moratorium on large-scale battery energy storage systems. The two actions underscore a widening gap between an energized opposition and town officials who continue advancing Terra-Gen’s 250-megawatt power storage facility.

At an October 2 Ulster Town Board meeting, council members formally found that the proposal “may” have significant environmental impacts and extended public comment, setting the stage for scoping and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 

Terra-Gen’s attorney, Robert Panasci, a partner with Albany-based law firm Young/Sommer LLC, said that the company does not oppose the positive declaration. When directly asked by Councilman Clayton Van Kleeck whether Terra-Gen would sue over the decision, Panasci responded: “We’re not suing. I don’t know if there was some implication of that? We wouldn’t be able to sue you if you issue a positive declaration.”

Terra-Gen spokesman John Sommer likewise said the developer supports a positive declaration and is “confident that a more comprehensive review process will fully support that this battery energy storage system can be built and operated safely, with absolutely no health impacts on the community.” The company announced they had launched UlsterCleanEnergy.com to provide the public with project updates. 

Confusion around public scoping period, lawsuits

Filed in May, the battery plant plan calls for a substation; three water storage tanks (a 30,000-gallon tank with a fire command center, a 10,000-gallon tank, and a 5,000-gallon underground tank); and, on 12 of the site’s 15 acres, roughly 300 lithium-ion battery containers about 14 feet high.

Despite issuing the positive declaration, the board did not set a public scoping period, drawing requests for a 90-day window from residents including Regis Obijiski of TownOfUlsterCitizens.org and questions from Kingston Citizens’ Rebecca Martin about why scoping was not scheduled alongside the declaration. Board Member Clayton Van Kleeck was credited by multiple speakers for pressing substantive questions. 

The next Ulster Town Board meeting is Thursday, October 16.

Hurley moratorium in effect

Two days earlier, on September 30, the Hurley Town Board unanimously enacted a six-month moratorium on battery energy storage systems.

“This is a moratorium for Hurley to take six months to look at our code to make decisions if there’s things that we want to change in our code to regulate large-scale utilities,” said councilmember Debbie Dougherty. 

“I want to make it clear, we don’t want to stop residential battery storage. So those that put solar panels or solar arrays that may put a personal storage unit for that, that’s not what the intention of this is. This is for large-scale utility energy storage.”

Town Board candidate Tim Kelly spoke in strong support of the moratorium.

“The technology being proposed in the nearby town of Ulster, particularly cabinet-style lithium-ion storage, carries risks that are not hypothetical. Across the country, these facilities have experienced fires, explosions and toxic releases that are extraordinarily difficult to control even in places that are deemed state-of-the-art,” he said.

“What makes Hurley unique is also what makes this issue urgent. We’re a small town with densely populated residential neighborhoods, schools, and houses of worship. We also have a lot of large-scale tracts that are available that would be potential sites for these types of facilities with easy interconnection across the creek and right up onto Hurley Avenue to that same Central Hudson substation.”

Kelly said he calculated the risk rate based on the national average of incidents.

“Basically it’s like having a revolver with 10 bullets, with one in the chamber all the time playing Russian Roulette once a year to see if there’s going to be an incident,” he said.

Supervisor Mike Boms had choice words for Terra-Gen after they invited him and the town board to visit plants in the NYC area.

“My response was I’d rather go see the ones in Warwick where there’s a fire. I don’t need to see something that’s working,” Boms said.

“I’d rather see the one in Warwick where they had two fires in one year. They didn’t agree to that yet.”

Resident Janet Cross called the proposed plant in the town of Ulster “disastrous.”

She said the largest battery plant in the state is 25 megawatts and the proposed plant is 10 times the capacity.

“The entire state has 264 megawatts total, but our small community is supposed to house almost as much as that all by ourselves. Proponents say our stringent fire codes will prevent accidents, but California has even tougher codes because of the wildfire situation there,” Cross said. 

“And that didn’t stop at least three fires at Terrigen plants there, including one requiring the emergency evacuation of the community.”

The moratorium has the option of a six-month extension if needed.

Republican county legislators also oppose

In another development toward opposing the development of Terra-Gen’s battery plant, all nine members of the Republican caucus in the Ulster County Legislature signed on to a strongly worded resolution urging rejection of the battery energy storage systems.

Citing problems of safety, the availability of emergency services, the dangers from toxic chemicals, the potential for environmental damage, and a wide variety of other reasons, they opposed citing any such plant anywhere in Ulster County. “Ulster County should not be a testing ground for hazardous industrial facilities that threaten our communities and environment,” said minority leader Kevin Roberts.

The move is of additional significance because six of the GOP caucus members represent legislative districts in the southern part of the county, far from Terra-Gen’s proposed Town of Ulster location.