WILSON — The town board has approved a moratorium on the development of renewable energy systems that utilize battery storage.
The board unanimously agreed to a 12-month halt to town processing of any applications for permits related to solar and/or wind energy projects that have battery energy storage systems.
Town supervisor Tony Evans said the board took action on battery storage systems like other local municipalities, including the Town of Royalton, took in the wake of a July 2023 incident in Lyme, Jefferson County, where four lithium battery storage trailers caught fire at a Convergent Energy solar installation.
“There’s still several unanswered questions even with what happened (in Lyme),” Evans said.
The public hearing at the beginning of the town board’s Wednesday meeting drew comment from one resident, Zoning Board of Appeals chairperson John Sinclair.
Sinclair expressed his support for the moratorium and his concern about the safety of “utility grade” solar energy projects that have battery energy storage systems.
“It would be good to put a hold on anything until the building codes for New York State get updated for these massive facilities. With the renewable energy that New York state is pushing, the only way for it to be practical is to have some type of storage… in these huge buildings full of batteries. One of these fires burned for days and they can’t really do anything to put them out,” he said.
While there are no such current sites or proposed projects utilizing battery storage in the town of Wilson, town attorney Kyle Andrews described the moratorium as a “preemptive” move while the town board looks to spell out a policy on battery storage.
Following the meeting, Evans said that the planning board is in the “infancy stages” of drafting a local law on battery storage systems. While he hopes that a law can be drafted within a 12-month timeframe, the town will “take their time” and extend the moratorium if needed.
“We’re not going to rush the process… the safety of our community and residents are paramount,” he said.