Southold Town Board unanimously approved a 12-month extension of its moratorium on Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facilities on Tuesday — buying time to draft and vote on local legislation governing their use.
The latest extension keeps the moratorium in place through April 2027.
The law was first enacted by the Town Board on Jan. 31, 2023, with an effective date of April 11, 2023, followingpublic scrutinyof a proposed BESSfacilityby Key Capture Energy on Oregon Road in Cutchogue the previous year.
The town’s BESS Task Force — formed in 2023 as part of state recommendations — spent about a year studying the issue and issued a comprehensive report in April 2024, officials said.
When the Town Board enacted the moratorium extension in 2025, they cited the state’s ongoing review of fire codes regarding BESS facilities, Town Supervisor Al Krupski said. The board had also been weighing a series of fires at battery storage facilities at the time, as concerns over safety grew.
Town officials said the additional year will allow them to reconvene the town’s BESS Task Force, gather public input and craft regulations aligned with new state guidance.
“The recommended 12-month extension of the moratorium would be time to complete and accomplish the steps recommended by the state in their new [BESS] guidance document, and the year would be spent updating that,” Mr. Krupski said.
The first step, officials said, will be updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan to address battery energy storage facilities, which would then guide future zoning regulations.
The year-long extension would also give the town time to work on other initiatives, such as its update for the zoning code which will take a morepiecemeal approachafter planning director Heather Lanza said a complete overhaul was decidedly impractical.
There was a mix of attendants who supported and opposed the moratorium and use of BESS facilities in Southold during the April 21 public hearing. Major concerns expressed by those in opposition were that the lithium-ion batteries used at the facilities can create hazardous conditions for the ground soil, water table and surrounding community if a fire were to occur.
Source: The Suffolk Times
