By Rebecca Martin
When we first wrote about the need for a temporary moratorium on new Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) applications in Kingston, the goal was to give the City time to understand this emerging technology and get our zoning right before a project arrives.
That need has become even clearer given what we are now seeing in the neighboring Town of Ulster, where three very large BESS projects are being proposed in close proximity to Kingston. Imagine being a small town board with limited expertise, suddenly having to manage three major environmental review processes under an outdated zoning code that doesn’t account for large-scale battery storage. That means making consequential decisions while still trying to understand the technology, the risks, and what the community needs under the circumstances. It gives me a cold sweat just thinking about it. I don’t envy their position.
The City’s Zoning Working Group, following the recommendation of the Climate Smart Kingston Committee, has advised the Common Council to amend Kingston’s zoning code to address BESS, while acknowledging that additional expertise is needed. In fact, one member of the Working Group expressed concern that the city council itself did not have the expertise to propose a BESS ordinance. Doing this well will require the City to determine what it needs to know, identify the appropriate professionals, and develop a thoughtful path forward. That takes time.
Why does this matter?
Battery storage is an important part of the clean-energy transition. The question isn’t whether Kingston should support energy storage. The question is how—and where—we should allow battery facilities to be built.
Lithium-ion battery storage presents safety considerations that are different from many other types of development. Batteries can experience thermal runaway, which can produce intense fires, release flammable gases, and, under certain conditions, create explosion or deflagration hazards. Fire-safety standards for BESS address fire propagation, separation distances, ventilation, testing, and emergency response—and those standards continue to evolve.
That matters when we’re talking about facilities in or near densely populated areas. Kingston needs to understand what those standards mean for our geography: setbacks from homes and businesses, emergency access, water resources, firefighting capacity, emergency-response plans, and the potential cumulative impacts of multiple facilities in the region.
Kingston has seen this movie before
Although the circumstances aren’t exactly the same, there is a useful lesson in what happened in the Town of Ulster in 2018. When GlidePath proposed its Lincoln Park Grid Support Center, the developers argued that a large power-generating facility could be treated as a “utility company structure” under the Town’s existing zoning.
The zoning code did not clearly define what that term meant or distinguish conventional utility infrastructure from a privately developed power plant. That ambiguity became a major point of contention and ultimately prompted the Town to revisit its zoning.
We should learn from that experience rather than repeat it
If a BESS project is submitted before Kingston amends its zoning, the developer will be looking at the zoning that exists at the time of its application. Once a project enters the approval process and an environmental review process begins, the City is responding to a specific proposal under the rules that exist at that point.
Given the complexity surrounding BESS, Kingston could find itself in a contentious and avoidable fight over how a project should be regulated—after the fact, rather than having established the rules in advance.
That’s why a temporary moratorium of at least six months is a reasonable and protective step. It would give the Common Council time to deliberate, understand Kingston’s particular assets and vulnerabilities, and bring in qualified consultants and other professionals where the City lacks the necessary expertise.
So we tried to move the conversation forward.
We reached out to several Council members, including Sara Pasti (Ward 1), Michele Hirsch (Ward 9 and Majority Leader), and Marissa Marvelli (Ward 3), to share the proposal and the concerns behind it. We appreciate Sara’s responsiveness and her engagement with Ward 1 constituents who are concerned about the Terragen BESS project—particularly because they live closest, within Kingston, to the proposed Town of Ulster site.
Ultimately, our communication requesting that the Council consider a temporary moratorium was not placed on a committee agenda. The proposal never reached the point where the public could come before a committee, explain the reasoning behind the request, and have Council members publicly consider and debate it.
That is gatekeeping.
We don’t expect Council members to agree with a moratorium. They may ultimately decide it isn’t the right approach. That’s democracy. If no Council member wants to sponsor a proposal, then it goes nowhere. But the public should at least have the opportunity to make the case.
Any member of the public can submit a communication to the Common Council asking that an issue or proposed legislation be considered. That is precisely what the communication process is for: to give members of the public a pathway to bring an idea forward, have it assigned to the appropriate committee, and allow Council members and the public to discuss, consider, and ultimately decide what happens next.
Public participation isn’t simply being given an opportunity to speak after decisions have already been made. It means having a meaningful pathway into the process from the beginning.
When One Door Closes…
Although the Council proved to be a dead end, we looked for another avenue. We knew the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) advises the council, so we brought the conversation there. In advance of the CAC’s recent meeting, we spent hours speaking with members about why Kingston needs to thoughtfully consider how its zoning law accommodates BESS—before an application lands on our laps.
Unfortunately, when the possibility of a moratorium was raised, the Council members we engaged were not able to bring our concerns forward in a meaningful way, nor were we asked to attend the CAC meeting to explain the proposal and speak directly to the members.
Questions were also raised about the logic behind a moratorium, including comparisons to the Kingston Climate Smart Committee—as though its position should carry greater weight. But the Climate Smart Committee’s connection to NYSERDA and the Governor’s clean-energy agenda does not give it greater expertise on Kingston’s zoning, land-use, or public-safety questions. Those are questions that deserve to be considered on their merits, with the appropriate expertise brought to the table.
The CAC was also told by its administrator, Julie Noble, that the Executive Administration would veto any BESS moratorium. As the Mayor’s wife, she would presumably have some insight into the administration’s position. But anticipating a veto before the Council has even had the opportunity to fully consider the public’s concerns is troubling.
A Moratorium Gives Kingston Time to Do the Work
A temporary moratorium is a legitimate planning tool—one that a handful of municipalities right here in Ulster County have used to give themselves time to understand BESS and establish local rules.
But they miss the point of a temporary moratorium. A moratorium doesn’t replace the work of a task force—it gives the City time to do that work without a BESS project arriving while the rules are still being figured out.
A project could be submitted tomorrow, next week, or while the task force is getting organized. A temporary moratorium would give Kingston the time to establish the task force, bring in qualified experts, review its zoning, and develop protective standards without interruption.
That’s good planning.
Take Action
Call your Kingston Common Council member. Ask them to pause BESS applications by supporting a temporary moratorium of at least six months so the City can review its zoning, bring in qualified experts, and develop thoughtful, protective regulations before a project arrives.