We recently receive an email we'd like to share. We will not disclose the sender, but we will disclose our response.

The question:

A quick and very important question. Do any of you use the energy from batteries? I will assume that the answer is yes. If we need sources of energy that require that we store that energy in batteries, isn’t it logical - and ethical - that we provide some place to store them?? I need these answers before I can even think of supporting you, otherwise you take on the NIMBY mentality that serves no-one.

The Response:

Of course, we all use batteries, but we are not arguing against the use of batteries, we are arguing that we should only use batteries that are fundamentally safe and the current technology has proven itself to be unsafe (see Moss Landing).

There is a reason why lithium batteries are not allowed in cargo holds of planes. There is a reason why FDNY is warning about e-bikes being stored in apartments. There are reasons why the occasional electric car decides to spontaneously combust. There is a reason why there is so much research ongoing to find a better, safer battery chemistry. Currently, the technology simply doesn’t work very well from a public safety perspective. There is a very small chance that your iPhone has a defective battery. There is a somewhat greater chance that your car has a defective battery. Why? because it contains more individual battery cells. The more cells you have, the greater the odds there is a bad cell in the bunch. The proposed facility in Glenwood landing will contain well over a million individual cells. Now the odds of having bad cells in there get really high.

And the problem is not just the cells. BESS systems are very complex, with integrated fire suppression systems, and cooling systems. All of which have effectively failed numerous times. You may be interested in the attached report from CEA (Clean Energy Associates). CEA performed 320+ inspections in 52+ BESS factories and 64% of Tier 1 BESS cell manufacturers worldwide were audited. What they found was that 26% of inspected storage systems had issues related to fire detection and suppression and 18% of inspected systems had issues related to thermal management. If we were to build a BESS here today, we are then stuck with that technology for the long term, unless, of course, it burns down before then.

The logical question is why Jupiter (BlackRock) would want to build this BESS in Glenwood Landing? The answer is for the money. Buried in all the details is a clause that gives BESS developers, like Jupiter, a minimum revenue guarantee from NYS, so even if battery power is not needed, they get paid anyway.

Rather than rushing into first generation technology at enormous expense, why not invest in research to find a better long term solution faster? 

Some will argue that this is based on global climate change, but that is misguided. Not because climate change is a hoax, but because if science is correct, the globe has no hope, zero hope, of meeting the ‘necessary CO2 targets’. Look at what is happening in India, China and the rest of southeast Asia. Their emissions continue to grow at very rapid rates, while the U.S. is declining. New York as a percent of the US emissions is about 3.5%. What we have planned in NY doesn’t move the needle toward reaching CO2 emissions goals. It makes no sense to prioritize speed over efficacy. If we are going to go green, we need to do it right, not fast.

In addition, this effort is going to be extremely costly. I know that’s not what they are saying, but how do you explain this? Take a look at your electric bill and see what the per kwh charge for energy (not transmission) is for your home. Mine is about 11.9 cents per kwh. I’ll assume your is close, if not the same. New York State has agreed to pay 15.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for energy generated by windmills. That’s a 25% increase and it doesn’t include the cost of the batteries (which would also be part of your energy charge). Now add the $3.6 billion cost of the transmission lines to the transmission portion of your electric bill. If you think electricity is expensive now (and it is), just wait until all this work is complete. People can’t afford to live here already, and this will only make it worse. What good is an affordable house if the electric bill is going to break you??