There is a lot of unease regarding the idea of Battery Energy Storage Systems, so we can certainly understand the town of Ellicott taking the first step on a blanket moratorium on BESS systems in the town.

In August 2024 the county IDA sold about 12 acres of vacant land on Dow Street, south of Allen Street, in Ellicott to Granite Source Power. Granite Source Power officials told IDA officials the company wants to install a 100-megawatt battery storage project on the site. Essentially, the project is described as a shipping container one would see on a freightliner filled with racks of modules made up of batteries.

The Granite Source Power project is similar to most such projects that feature rows of shipping containers in a fenced lot, with the containers holding hundreds of thousands of cells. Fires in other areas have created concerns of a thermal runaway, a chain reaction of uncontrolled heating that can lead to fire or an explosion.

New York has a goal to add 6,000 megawatts of energy storage by 2030, half of it large-scale systems. Local communities are wary of the technology, so moratoriums like the one Ellicott is proposing are not uncommon or necessarily unwise.

But we’re not in favor of a blanket ban in Ellicott after hearing Dr. Raj DasGupta describe plans for energy storage systems scaled for industrial uses. While most industries use diesel generators as backup power sources, Electrovaya officials have plans to use a smaller scale battery storage system as a backup power source at its Ellicott plant. Such systems, DasGupta said during a recent conference call with investor analysts, are important for the future of the company. Company officials hope to possibly be making the units when full production starts at the Ellicott plant in 2027.

The local law Ellicott is proposing prohibits the construction, maintenance and placement of Battery Storage Systems and Equipment in the town of Ellicott. A public hearing on the local law will be held on Tuesday, June 2, in the Town Council Chambers at 5:30 p.m.

Ellicott officials probably didn’t know about Electrovaya’s plans when they discussed the BESS moratorium in early May. Given the company’s growing prominence in the local economy and the massive state and federal support Electrovaya has received to get up and running in Ellicott, it makes no sense, in our opinion, to hamstring a potential growing segment of Electrovaya’s business – and a company that has the potential to hire a substantial number of additional workers in southern Chautauqua County – with a blanket BESS moratorium.