Commonly Asked Questions About the Proposed Energy Storage Project in the Town of Ulster, Bordering the Town of Hurley and the City of Kingston

September 8, 2025

Why is battery storage important?

Because the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow, we need to store excess renewable energy and dispatch it as needed if we want to transition to wind and solar as our significant source of energy^{^[1]}. Delay in building up enough storage means we won’t meet the state’s climate goals^{^[2]}, and the alternative we’ll face increasingly is to build modular nuclear^{^[3]} or fracked gas pipelines^{^[4]}, which are significantly worse options. Additionally, energy storage helps to lower overall energy costs by reducing the need to purchase expensive back-up, and by delaying or eliminating the need for new transmission lines, substations, or power plants, saving billions in infrastructure costs that would otherwise be paid for by consumers through their utility bills^{^[5]}.

Are New York’s safety requirements lax for energy storage projects?

No. The proposed Terra Gen project is subject to New York’s fire codes, which are among the highest standards internationally^{^[6]} and requires, among other things, the following^{^[7]}:

Modular enclosure design where groups of batteries need to be housed in different containers, with each container not exceeding a certain amount, and with a minimum spacing of 3 ft between the containers and from the walls—this is to ensure that in a rare event of a battery fire, the fire does not spread beyond a single container.
First-responder training and emergency response planning
Large-scale fire testing conducted or witnessed and reported by an approved testing laboratory to demonstrate conclusively that fire will not spread beyond a container.
Fire and life safety systems to be inspected, tested, and maintained at intervals required by applicable National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. The reports must be kept on file for 5 years, and the facility and the reports can be inspected at any time. If the project is found to be not performing up to the required code, its operating permit can be revoked.
In the event of power outage, a backup power source is required in accordancewith NFPA 855 to ensure cooling, ventilation, and any fire suppression measures, if applicable, are not affected

There has never been an uncontained fire incident at facilities that follow the state’s fire codes and standards. Additionally, the project will use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are the safest type of batteries with the least risk of thermal runaway^{^[8]}, unlike other types of batteries with higher risks, such as nickel manganese cobalt, that have been involved in prominent fire incidents.

What is the benefit of having a battery storage facility of this size at this location?

New York State has a goal to install 6 gigawatts of energy storage by 2030 in order to support its renewable goals of 70% by 2030, and in order to meet this goal, storage facilities of this size (around 250 MW) will have to increasingly exist across the state. In this particular case, proximity to a Central Hudson substation, which would allow the energy to easily connect to the grid, is the key reason the location is being considered as efficient. Additionally, because the Hudson Valley region has limited capacity for wind and solar compared to other regions, storage capacity is one of the ways it can contribute towards the state’s renewable goals.

What about the Moss Landing battery storage facility in California, where a prominent fire incident occurred?

The Moss Landing is an example of an older facility that was not built per New York’s latest fire codes and standards^{^[9]}. It housed a large number of batteries in a warehouse-like repurposed turbine hall, instead of grouping batteries into individual containers where fire cannot spread beyond a single container^{^[10]}. It also used nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) lithium-ion batteries, which carry a greater risk of thermal runaway^{^[11]}. To ensure, any rare battery fire does not become a spreadable fire, this type of project is no longer permitted.

What about the explosion in Arizona?

The 2019 explosion in Arizona also occurred at a site that was built before today’s code, which has requirements to mitigate the risk of explosion^{^[12]}. Per today’s requirements, projects must employ gas detection and ventilation systems to prevent gas build-up within the enclosure, and also provide proper training to first responders. There has been no explosion at a facility that follows this code. Additionally, the risk of explosion is higher in indoor facilities compared to outdoor ones, and the proposed project is outdoors.

What is the impact on pollution?

Not having to use toxic fossil fuel plants during peak time (known as “peaker plants”) means the net impact on air quality is positive. Additionally, under normal operations, a battery storage of this type does not release hazardous gases. In the case of fire incidents within an enclosed container, the correct response is to let the fire die out within the container, as opposed to dousing it with water. In the event of such a fire, measurements and readings taken by credible third-party agencies confirmed no readings of air, soil, or water contamination during or after the fire that were above human health or environmental thresholds as set by OSHA, NIOSH, and EPA^{^[13]}.

Will a contained fire incident leave heavy metal particulates and acid gases in soil, water, and air?

This concern is associated only with nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries, which we don’t recommend. Projects should be required to commit to conduct site soil and water sampling should a fire occur—the proposed project in the Town of Ulster has this commitment.

Wouldn’t it be better to have a publicly-owned storage facility instead of one owned by a for-profit corporation?

Of course! In 2023, we passed the Build Public Renewables Act, which authorizes New York state to build its own publicly-owned renewables. As a result, the New York Power Authority has announced plans for publicly-owned energy storage, but it’s too little compared to what we need. The dilemma is that because we have wasted so much time not responding to the climate crisis, we are operating under an exceptionally urgent circumstance where we need to deploy as quickly as possible.

Additionally, if we were to pass our bill to replace Central Hudson with a publicly-owned utility, the Hudson Valley Power Authority (HVPA), HVPA would be able to own projects like these and use those revenues to lower rates for customers and other public benefits^{^[14]}.

Why not limit these projects to remote areas?

Energy storage projects cannot always be in remote areas because they need to be able to connect to the grid easily. If they are too far away, new transmission lines will need to be built to connect them, which comes with its own challenges, including fiscal and environmental impacts, that make the project less efficient than what it could be. What’s important is that we don’t allow the type of projects that can spread fires beyond a container, which is already the case. And these types of projects are already active, even in denser places like New York City.

Comment From Assemblymember Shrestha:

“It’s increasingly common for the fossil fuel industry to use isolated, unrelated incidents to evoke people’s worst fears about energy storage projects. Our office has received a lot of questions in the past several months about the proposed 250MW project in the Town of Ulster, specifically whether it poses the kind of safety risks people should be worried about—and we’ve done our due diligence to provide the short answer, which is no. Our office is never a cheerleader for for-profit corporations, but the reality is that until we invest in public goods, some of the critical services we need will need to be provided by for-profit companies—and ourjob at this time is to make sure that the state has strong guardrails to protect people’s best interests. In this case, what’s important is that New York has fairly advanced fire codes and standards these types of projects must follow, which means we’re not talking about the kind of scenarios that would result in warehouse fires such as the ones we’ve seen in California that were caused by outdated fire safety standards. It’s normal, of course, for people to have questions, and they’re right to want answers, since the state is still in its early stages of building up energy storage capacity, so people aren’t very familiar with them yet. And needless to say, when the involved developer is a for-profit corporation, it creates an added layer of doubt, but generally we found that incomparable examples were being cited as reasons for safety concerns, so we want to make sure we at least get the right information out, so that people can make better-informed decisions. The reality is that fossil fuel, both directly and indirectly, poses direct and far bigger threats to our health and safety, and if we don’t transition to renewables, our choices are either sticking with fossil fuel or building out nuclear—and energy storage is a critical part of the renewable ecosystem we need to build. Additionally, the Hudson Valley is strategically located to host storage projects, and we’re also glad that the New York Power Authority has announced some publicly-owned storage projects it intends to build as well. I hope the answers we have provided are helpful to our constituents. In the meantime, we hope to see a strong and detailed community benefits agreement for this project.”

Comment From Senator Hinchey:

“If we are to truly confront the climate crisis, we must step forward with open minds and make decisions grounded in facts. And the fact is that New York and America have been late to the game when it comes to renewable energy infrastructure, including battery storage. These are investments we need. That said, above all else, we must ensure that these projects demonstrate that they are safe for the communities in which they are sited. Terra Gen has done a significant amount of due diligence, and I have confidence in our towns, local leaders, and NYSERDA to ensure that the best interests of our communities are always taken into account. With full respect for approval processes and local control, I believe we must look to the future and embrace safe technologies for the sake of our energy security and the greater public good. I will work with my colleagues in the state government to guarantee transparent, effective oversight and have faith that our local leaders will do the same.”

Questions? Email district103@nyassembly.gov or hinchey@nysenate.gov

^{^[1]}https://news.mit.edu/2022/energy-storage-important-creating-affordable-reliable-deeply-decarbonized-electricity-systems-0516

^{^[2}]https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2025/08/06/hochul-says-n-y--won-t-meet-climate-law-deadline--critics-argue-she-s-got-eye-on-reelection-bid

^{^[3]}https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/icymi-governor-hochuls-op-ed-usa-today-network-new-york-must-and-will-embrace-advanced-nuclear

^{^[4]}https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/two-pipelines-proposed-new-york-dividing-hochul-21030879.php

^{^[5]}https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/-/media/Project/Nyserda/Files/Publications/Fact-Sheets/Battery-Energy-Storage-Systems-Factsheet.pdf

^{^[6]}Ibid.

^{^[7]}https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2025/07/2025fcnys_noa_2025-07-24.pdf

^{^[8]} https://www.powermag.com/building-a-safer-storage-industry-after-the-moss-landing-fire/

^{^[9]} https://dos.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2025/07/2025fcnys_noa_2025-07-24.pdf

^{^[10]}Ibid.

^{^[11]}https://www.powermag.com/building-a-safer-storage-industry-after-the-moss-landing-fire/