June 2025
A few weeks ago, a major road in my town was shut down for nearly an entire day due to a gas station fire in Ballston Spa, NY. The images and reports were alarming — smoke pouring into the sky, emergency responders rushing to the scene, and a property left in ruins.
The irony? While events like this are met with a collective shrug, I’ve spent the last six years watching towns erupt in panic over the potential danger of battery energy storage systems (BESS). My company, onCORE Origination, has originated and supported the development of hundreds of commercial BESS projects nationwide – perhaps more than any other company in the country. And with that experience comes a front-row seat to the misinformation and hysteria that often dominate public discourse.
I’ve attended countless public hearings where concerned residents passionately oppose BESS projects often based on fear, not fact. In some cases, towns have gone so far as to ban BESS altogether. One recent example, Yorktown, NY, banned BESS despite already having installations operating in the community.
According to to the town Supervisor, “Our priorities are our residents and the environment… Given the early stage of battery energy storage technology and the recent fires, we have significant concerns with fire suppression, emergency response, and groundwater pollution.”
It sounds thoughtful on the surface but it’s also either misinformed or disingenuous. This is the kind of political tightroping we see far too often from local leaders – fearing the vocal minority rather than standing up for the greater good.
By that logic, should we ban gas stations and electric vehicles? What about electrical transformers that are the backbone of our grid? A study by Berg & Fritze found that 730 transformer explosions occur in the U.S. annually and T&D World Magazine estimated that 2.4% to 4% of all transformers can be expected to cause a fire during the average 40-year service life. These incidents can release harmful contaminants like oil and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) which are substances known to pose environmental and health risks when not properly contained. Yet we regularly see substations built in residential neighborhoods without a word of complaint.
The fact of the matter is that in an increasingly electrified world – fire is an inherent risk. There are 358,500 house fires each year. We cannot stop building houses because of the risk of fire. I am not advocating for siting BESS projects with reckless abandon nor ignoring the risk entirely – but the lengths that municipalities have gone to quell their development has exceeded logic and is now harming critical infrastructure.
Yorktown falls within Con Edison territory, where grid reliability is already heavily strained. Banning BESS, a technology specifically designed to relieve grid stress and improve resiliency, does a disservice to residents under the false pretense of safety.
This fear isn’t new. Back in the late-1990s, when I was siting and developing cell towers, people were convinced they would get cancer, lose their property value, or that towers would fall on their homes. It was the same script: fear of the unknown.
Even today, some of those same arguments continue to echo in public forums despite the fact that none of them have been proven true. And yet, even with overwhelming data and decades of safe operation, some municipalities still make poor decisions – either out of electoral self-preservation or simple ignorance of the facts. The result? Communities miss out on vital technology that could improve infrastructure, reliability, and quality of life.
Here are the facts about lithium-based BESS:
- Setbacks & Placement: BESS installations are typically sited away from residences, with strict zoning, safety standards, and emergency response protocols.
- Solid State = No Spills: Lithium-ion batteries do not release or spill hazardous fluids like petroleum.
- Fire Containment: Most battery fires are isolated to the unit, by design. They have built in 24/7 monitoring and fire suppression. Recent BESS fires in New York caused no injuries and no offsite damage.
- High Standards: Even the FDNY, which enforces some of the most rigorous fire codes in the world, permits BESS facilities in densely populated parts of New York City.
- Limited to No Traffic: Fenced off and inaccessible to the public, with only a few on-site inspections/maintenance visits per year.
- The Statistics: Only ~20 commercial BESS fires in the US over the last decade. Most were caused by early-generation technology or human error and none resulted in death.
Now let’s compare that to gas stations:
- Abundant and Centrally Located: Can be found all across towns, usually on main streets and busy corners/intersections.
- Highly Flammable: Petroleum is highly flammable and combustible
- Liquid Contaminants: Gas Stations are a leading cause for contaminated sites (also known as “brownfields”) – leading to costly remediations and potential groundwater contamination.
- High Traffic: Intentionally located in high traffic areas, vehicles on site and high risk of accidents/incidents.
- Minimal Supervision: Most gas stations are unmanned, allowing anyone from a 16 year old to an elderly person to operate pumps with flammable liquids.
- The Statistics: According to the National Fire Protection Association, there are over 4,000 gas station fires each year in the U.S., causing an average of 3 deaths, 43 injuries, and $30 million in property damage, in addition to the environmental fall out from burning and spilled fuel and the retardants needed to put out the flames.
I’m not advocating we ban gas stations, transformers, or the many other high-risk technologies that quietly power our lives. I’m pointing out the inconsistency and the irrational fear of what’s new. Every day we accept far greater risks from technologies that are familiar, yet statistically more dangerous.
BESS is still new to many people, and with that newness comes uncertainty. But if we let misinformation and emotion dictate public policy, we will stifle innovation and undermine our transition to a more reliable, sustainable energy grid.
It’s time for courage, not cowardice. Battery storage isn’t just another energy technology; it’s critical infrastructure. It helps stabilize the grid, supports renewable generation, and provides backup power during peak demand or outages. As our electric demand surges and the pressure to decarbonize increases, energy storage isn’t optional, it’s essential.
Local leaders who fold to loud opposition aren’t protecting their communities, they’re depriving them of progress, resiliency, and future-readiness.
The real danger isn’t in the battery. It’s in letting fear and ignorance win.
Joe Tassone Jr. – founder and a principal of Oncore Origination with 30 years of project development experience. And an expert in renewable energy development. Visit www.oncoreorig.com for more information.