North Elba's town board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a one-year moratorium on battery energy storage systems, freezing construction, installation and even review of any such project anywhere in town while officials scramble to close gaps in local zoning rules. The vote lands squarely in the middle of two pending Ray Brook solar-farm applications that would pair roughly 25 megawatts of power generation with battery units, leaving their fate uncertain just as developers push forward with permitting.
Town officials say they hit pause after realizing their zoning had gaps when it comes to energy projects, according to WCAX. North Elba Town Supervisor Rick Preston told the station he doesn't believe the town will consider individual battery applications going forward, adding plainly: “We don't see a battery energy storage system being suited for North Elba or the village of Lake Placid. We just don't have the acreage for it.” The newly enacted local law prohibits the construction, establishment, installation, review or approval of any battery energy storage system while it remains in effect, according to a public notice posted by the town of North Elba.
Two Ray Brook Proposals Now in Question
The moratorium arrives as North Elba weighs two separate solar-plus-storage applications in Ray Brook. One proposal, pitched by ClearPath Energy, would place a solar farm and battery storage system on roughly 50 acres of private property off Pendergast Road, according to the Daily Gazette. Citizen Portal described this same ClearPath proposal as two adjacent community solar-plus-storage arrays beside FCI Ray Brook, totaling about 24,000 panels and approximately 40 megawatt-hours of battery capacity.
The other proposed Ray Brook solar farm, which Preston said is unlikely to advance, sits too close to a municipal water-supply tank for comfort, per the same Daily Gazette account. It remains unclear whether the ClearPath project could be exempt from the moratorium given its current stage in the permitting process, the newspaper's report notes — a question town officials have not resolved.
Part of a Wider Adirondack Pattern
North Elba's move follows similar moratoriums already adopted in the Adirondack towns of Champlain and Ticonderoga, per WCAX's reporting. But the trend reaches far beyond the Lake Placid area. According to the Adirondack Explorer, roughly one-fifth of the Adirondack Park's 101 towns and villages have passed battery-storage moratoriums this year alone, with 21 municipalities filing local laws since January 1 that delay construction for periods ranging from six months to a full year.
Town boards across the region have repeatedly framed these pauses as necessary to gather more information on the public and environmental safety of the technology, the Adirondack Explorer reports. The scale of the slowdown is significant: testimony from William Acker cited by the outlet put the number of municipalities with active moratoriums above 100, delaying more than one gigawatt of battery storage projects statewide. New York has set a goal of bringing 6 gigawatts of energy storage online by 2030, a target that becomes harder to hit as local governments hit pause one by one.
Towns Split Between Bans and Narrow Carve-Outs
Some Adirondack municipalities have gone further than a temporary freeze. Fort Ann, Gloversville and Forestport have banned battery energy storage systems outright, according to the Adirondack Explorer. Accounts of neighboring St. Armand's action differ: the Adirondack Explorer reported in one piece that the town passed a one-year moratorium on building battery systems following a public hearing in Bloomingdale, while a separate Adirondack Explorer report states St. Armand is repeating its process after failing to evaluate the local law under the State Environmental Quality Review Act. The Daily Gazette, meanwhile, described St. Armand's June action as a moratorium covering batteries over 600 kilowatt-hours.
Not every Adirondack town has slammed the door. The Adirondack Park Agency has already permitted a 10-megawatt, four-hour battery storage system in Northampton — described by the Adirondack Explorer as the park's first large-scale project, consisting of two five-megawatt AC systems with six lithium-ion batteries each. That approval came even as more than 160 people packed a local firehouse before Northampton's own town board separately passed a one-year moratorium on further projects. Ticonderoga's six-month moratorium, passed in March, was nearing its end as officials considered another six-month extension, and Hadley's moratorium was also on the cusp of expiring with a renewal in the works, per the same outlet.
Local Capacity to Vet Complex Projects a Recurring Concern
Part of the hesitation reflects a broader resource gap. Local Authorities Having Jurisdiction often lack the resources or expertise to evaluate critical battery storage permitting documents, which contain technical data that drives important siting requirements, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. NYSERDA guidance also discusses peer review and fire-code requirements for these systems.
For North Elba, the moratorium buys time rather than settling the matter. Preston has said the pause gives the board a year to study impacts and revise its code, and town officials have stressed it is not intended as a permanent solution. Whether the Ray Brook proposals ultimately move forward, get rejected, or wait out the year in limbo remains an open question the town has yet to answer.
