By East End Now | Auxio.tv News
Stephen Kiely is making local control of battery energy storage projects a central issue in his campaign for New York State Assembly.
Kiely, the Republican candidate in the 1st Assembly District, has argued that East End towns should retain meaningful authority over where large battery energy storage systems, or BESS facilities, are located.
That debate is becoming more important as Albany considers new rules for energy storage projects.
New York lawmakers have already advanced legislation requiring developers of larger commercial battery-storage projects to notify local officials when seeking permits. Other proposals would establish setback requirements and additional public-hearing protections.
The broader issue is not whether battery storage has a role in New York’s energy system.
It does.
The harder question is who should decide where those facilities go.
State officials have statewide energy goals. Local governments have to deal with the consequences of individual projects — including land use, emergency response, traffic, neighborhood compatibility and public concern over fire safety.
That creates a basic mismatch of incentives.
Albany can approve a policy.
A town has to live with the result.
Kiely’s position is that those decisions should not be pushed upward simply because the state wants to accelerate energy development.
That argument is especially relevant on the East End, where Southold has already imposed and extended a moratorium on new BESS development while local officials continue reviewing safety and siting concerns.
The Legislature itself appears to recognize that local communities need a stronger voice. One current bill would require notice to local officials for certain commercial storage projects, while another proposal would establish minimum setbacks and require public hearings before approval.
Kiely’s campaign is turning that debate into a larger question about local government.
If a community bears the risk of a project, how much authority should it have over the decision?
That is likely to remain a significant issue in the East End Assembly race as Kiely challenges Democratic incumbent Tommy John Schiavoni in November. The two are the general-election candidates for Assembly District 1.
For East End voters, the debate is not simply about batteries.
It is about whether major land-use decisions should be made closest to the people who will live with them.
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