Fears of massive battery fires spark local opposition to energy storage
projects
[October 04, 2025] By
MICHAEL HILL
More and more, big arrays of lithium-ion batteries are being hooked up
to electrical grids around the U.S. to store power that can be
discharged in times of high demand.
But as more energy storage is added, residents in some places are
pushing back due to fears that the systems will go up in flames, as a
massive facility in California did earlier this year.
Proponents maintain that state-of-the-art battery energy storage systems
are safe, but more localities are enacting moratoriums.
“We’re not guinea pigs for anybody ... we are not going to experiment,
we’re not going to take risk,” said Michael McGinty, the mayor of Island
Park, New York, which passed a moratorium in July after a storage system
was proposed near the village line.
At least a few dozen localities around the United States have moved to
temporarily block development of big battery systems in recent years.
Long Island, where the power grid could get a boost in the next few
years as offshore wind farms come online, has been a hotbed of activism,
even drawing attention recently from the Trump administration. Opponents
there got a boost in August when Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lee Zeldin visited New York to complain that the state was
rushing approvals of sites in order to meet “delusional” green power
goals — a claim state officials deny.
Battery growth spurt
Battery energy storage systems that suck up cheap power during periods
of low demand, then discharge it at a profit during periods of high
demand, are considered critical with the rise of intermittent energy
sources such as wind and solar.
Known by the acronym BESS, the systems can make grids more reliable and
have been credited with reducing blackouts. A large battery system might
consist of rows of shipping containers in a fenced lot, with the
containers holding hundreds of thousands of cells.
China and the United States lead the world in rapidly adding battery
storage energy systems. However, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Australia,
Netherlands, Chile, Canada and the U.K. have commissioned or started
construction on large projects since 2024, too, according to research
from BloombergNEF.
In the U.S., California and Texas have been leaders in battery storage.
But other states are moving quickly, often with privately developed
systems. While the Trump administration has been unsupportive or even
hostile to renewable energy, key tax credits for energy storage projects
were maintained in the recently approved federal budget for qualified
projects that begin construction in the next eight years.
Developers added 4,908 megawatts of battery storage capacity in the
second quarter of 2025, with Arizona, California and Texas accounting
for about three-quarters of that new capacity, according to a report
from American Clean Power Association, an industry group. That’s enough
to power nearly 1.7 million households.
New York has an ambitious goal to add 6,000 megawatts of energy storage
by 2030, half of it large-scale systems.
Lithium-ion fire worries
Opposition to the storage systems usually focuses on the possibility of
thermal runaway, a chain reaction of uncontrolled heating that can lead
to fire or an explosion. Opponents point to past fires and ask: What if
that happens in my neighborhood?
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A large lithium battery energy storage system operated by Key
Capture Energy that can power 15,000 homes for two hours during
outages or high demand is shown in Blasdell, N.Y., Tuesday, Sept. 9,
2025. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
 A battery storage system in Moss
Landing, California caught fire in January, sending plumes of toxic
smoke into the atmosphere and forcing the evacuation of about 1,500
people..
Experts in the field say battery systems have become safer over the
years. Ofodike Ezekoye, a combustion expert and professor of
mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Austin, notes
that failures are relatively infrequent, but also that no engineered
system is 100% foolproof.
“This is a relatively immature technology that is maturing quickly,
so I think that there are a lot of really thoughtful researchers and
other stakeholders who are trying to improve the overall safety of
these systems,” Ezekoye said.
Battery storage proponents say a facility like Moss Landing, where
batteries were stored indoors, would not be allowed in New York,
which has adopted fire codes that require modular enclosure design
with required minimum spacing to keep fires from spreading.
Blocking battery systems
People who live near proposed sites are not always assured.
In Washington state, the city of Maple Valley approved a six-month
moratorium in July as a way “to protect us until we know more,” said
city manager Laura Philpot.
Voters in Halstead, Kansas, which has a moratorium, will be asked
this Election Day whether they want to prohibit larger battery
storage systems inside the city limits, according to Mayor Dennis
Travis. He hopes the city can one day host a safely designed storage
system, and said local opponents wrongly fixate on the California
fire.
The number of localities passing moratoriums began rising in 2023
and 2024, mirroring trends in battery storage deployment, with a
notable cluster in New York, according to a presentation last year
by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Winnie Sokolowski is among area residents against a proposed
250-megawatt lithium-ion storage system in the Town of Ulster, New
York, contending it is too close to schools and homes.
“They’re banking on nothing happening, but I don’t think you can
place it where they’re proposing and assume nothing’s going to
happen,” Sokolowski said. “It’s just too risky if it does.”
The developer, Terra-Gen, said the design will keep a fire from
spreading and that the system “poses no credible, scientific-based
threat to neighbors, the public or the environment.”
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority President
Doreen Harris said she's confident the state has the right safety
rules in place, and that scaling up the use of battery storage
systems will “strengthen and modernize our grid.”
She noted there also were local concerns in the early stages of
siting solar farms, which have since proven their benefits.
___
Associated Press writer Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode
Island, contributed to this report.
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