Stop Saugerties Battery Storage is a group of concerned residents who are committed to stopping a 100 MW Lithium-Ion Battery project in the Town of Saugerties that is placed adjacent to the Village of Saugerties.

These Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are considered toxic and hazardous due to the storage and proximity of lithium-ion battery units charging and discharging 24/7. These Battery Energy Storage Systems require large mechanical cooling devices that are very noisy. The risks associated with Battery Energy Storage Systems indicate they should not belong within proximity of over 1,000 residents and local schools!

Unlike environmental noises and intermittent noises Saugerties currently experiences, this will be 24/7 industrial mechanical noise that will get louder as the Battery Energy Storage System ages and iit's parts and components become compromised, less efficient, and less effective.

This proposed project will not reduce electric costs, or delivery charges. The guarantees made by Battery Energy Storage System proponents such as "consistent electricity" or "green energy" does not meet the definitions as advertised, nor can this project be guaranteed to be safe due to the combustible nature of heated batteries that degrade in structure and operation over time especially when exposed to extreme heat and extreme cold. Unfortunately Saugerties has issues with both extreme heat in the summers and extreme cold in the winters.

The Town of Saugerties withheld information about a determination letter submitted on behalf of the Battery Energy Storage System developer for most of 2025, which included an election cycle .

They introduced the proposed project with an informational fair paid for and run by the project developer, a Town Board Meeting with three "experts" who offered little evidence to back up assertions of proponents of the project; at least two of the "experts" are compensated to provide these opinions, one is a state employee who is sent out locally to push these projects as sound and another has vested interest via related a company. Within the same month as these meetings the Saugerties Planning Board took up the application for the project and has been proposed as the lead agency on the project doing "Pre-SEQRA investigations."

Since the initial formal meetings announcement in February 2026 there have been ongoing issues around a lack of transparency by the Town Board and related committees.

Concerned residents have been blocked from getting documents that would enable us to become more informed on the dangers around this proposed Battery Energy Storage System.

Open Meeting Laws have been flouted by the the Saugerties Town Government. These actions include forming a “BESS Working Committee” whose members are unknown, whose meetings are unannounced, and whose minutes appear to be nonexistent or held in secret.

Videotaped town government meetings show committee members disclosing a knowledge and a lack of concern over non-compliance with Open Meetings Law.

We can be more effective in our efforts to Stop Saugerties Battery Storage if we can hire a lawyer to address zoning issues, concerns over Open Meetings Laws, and to continue to attempt to protect the land, water, and air of Saugerties with full environmental disclosures.

Please contribute what you can to protect the future of a truly sustainable Saugerties. Any amount helps.

(The photo used is a similarly sized Battery Energy Storage System proposed in the UK. There are no current renderings from the project developer that accurately reflect or depict the true size of the project for Saugerties.)