SHERBURNE – Sherburne residents came out in force for Tuesday night’s public hearing on a moratorium for a proposed battery storage facility. The message from residents was clear. They do not want this facility in their town.

In November, Town Supervisor Charles Mastro was contacted by Nexamp, a clean energy company, about their plan to build a lithium-ion battery storage facility on Knapp Road in the Town of Sherburne.

The company appears to have already leased the 13.2 acre site and wanted to begin site planning for their proposed project. Mastro told town residents his first question was about the safety of the project and potential for fire.

The company told Mastro “They’re working on that,” he said. That assurance did not seem to be enough for the approximately 50 people in attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting.

Nexamp’s private project comes with a price tag in the $55-60 million range. The town reiterated the fact that this is a privately-owned company and the project is in no way being pursued by the town. A representative from the company originally planned to attend the meeting, but was not there to hear the public’s concerns.

Several Sherburne residents, including many who live on Knapp Road, spoke at the public hearing. One resident, Jacqueline Ryan, mentioned the recent battery storage facility in Worwick, NY and the toxins found in the air in the aftermath of the fire.

“What will protect us? If we have a leak or a fire, we have limited resources and volunteers to deal with that. If the leak goes into the ground, when it floods it will be in the water supply. How will that effect our homes, our wildlife, our crops, our kids? Not just now but 50 years from now?”

Other residents spoke about fire concerns. Lithium-ion batteries are known to pose threats when exposed to water. If water reaches the batteries, they can cause fires that burn at extremely high temperatures. Unlike other fires, the lithium-ion batteries create oxygen as they burn, making the fires self-sustaining and making them nearly impossible to put out.

Village of Sherburne Assistant Fire Chief Chris Thompson spoke from the perspective of the fire department.

“There is not a chemical substance on this earth that will put out one of these fires,” he explained. “If a Tesla car battery catches fire, it takes 20-30,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire. This site is probably the equivalent of 3,000-5,000 Teslas.”

Thompson, who said he has been to trainings regarding lithium-ion battery fires, continued by saying that the nearest hazmat team is at least 30 minutes away and they are not fully trained to handle these situations either. “The state is making it up as they go along and that should scare the crap out of everybody,” he said.

Mastro added that the batteries Nexamp is proposing to store at the facility would be Tesla-made batteries.

One resident asked where the power that will charge the batteries is being drawn from. Mastro explained that it would be coming from the NYSEG grid, not Sherburne Electric.

Village of Sherburne Mayor William Acee confirmed that.

“This does not connect to our system, however the village does own the fire department and I whole heartedly support the town’s moratorium on this matter. There are serious safety risks to our fire department personnel. I know about energy goals. I’m not in favor of this one,” said Acee.

Town of Sherburne Attorney Dylan Harris addressed several of the community members questions.

Sherburne resident Sandy Sanger asked, “Are you aware of any community that has successfully blocked this?” Harris said he is not aware of any, but he is continuing to look into it.

“The law allows property owners to use their property for anything they want. I do have some creative ideas, but this is definitely going to be a challenge.”

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Mastro asked those in attendance if anyone was in support of the battery storage facility. This was met with silence from the crowd.

In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul doubled New York’s energy storage goal, calling for 6-gigawatts of energy storage by 2030, making it the highest energy storage goal in the country. The proposed project would create a 40-megawatt battery storage facility made up of 12 battery storage pods.

While the town currently has no process for stopping the creation of the battery storage facility, they are delaying it while they investigate their options.

“We are going to pass a battery storage moratorium for six months,” Mastro said. “It sounds like we definitely want to add another six months to that when it is complete.”

The moratorium will give the town board time to pass a battery storage law, similar to the one the Town of Columbus passed in 2025. While the law does not prohibit battery energy storage sites, it does regulate what locations are suitable for their use, the vicinity of the systems to other areas, the potential impact on environmental resources and works to mitigate any potential fire safety hazards associated with the system.

The town hopes to make the law as stringent as they can to protect nearby properties on Knapp Road and everyone with a vested interest in the community.

After the public hearing, the Town Board held their regularly scheduled meeting and passed the six-month battery storage moratorium.