A 8141: Requires notice to elected officials when there is a proposed battery energy storage system in such officials district; defines what qualifies as a battery energy storage system.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8141 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 1, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PIROZZOLO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy AN ACT to amend the energy law, the public service law and the public authorities law, in relation to mandatory notice to elected officials of battery energy storage system siting proposals and mandatory peri- odic updates throughout the entirety of the siting proposal process The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The energy law is amended by adding a new article 22 to 2 read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 22 4 BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM NOTICE 5 Section 22-101. Definitions. 6 22-103. Mandatory notice to elected officials of battery energy 7 storage system siting proposals. 8 § 22-101. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms 9 shall have the following meanings: 10 1. "Applicant" means a developer or other entity or individual propos- 11 ing a battery energy storage system. 12 2. "Battery energy storage site" means for purposes of the siting of 13 battery energy storage systems (BESSs), both those that are standalone 14 BESSs, those that are tied to a major renewable energy facility or major 15 electric transmission facility as defined in section one hundred forty- 16 nine of the public service law, as well as storage sites as well as such 17 term is defined in section nineteen hundred one of the public authori- 18 ties law, shall be defined as a site housing a BESS equipped with 19 rechargeable batteries that can store electricity from the grid or, 20 directly or indirectly, from, for example, renewable sources like solar 21 and wind power, to be released later when needed, helping to balance 22 energy supply and demand, and whereby BESS denotes one or more devices, 23 assembled together, capable of storing energy in order to supply elec- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD11721-01-5 
 A. 8141 2 1 trical energy at a future time, not to include a stand-alone twelve-volt 2 car battery or an electric motor vehicle, and which is classified as a 3 tier one or tier two battery energy storage system as follows: (a) tier 4 one battery energy storage systems shall possess an aggregate energy 5 capacity less than or equal to six hundred kilowatt hours and, if in a 6 room or enclosed area, consist of only a single energy storage system 7 technology; (b) tier two battery energy storage systems shall possess an 8 aggregate energy capacity greater than six hundred kilowatt hours or are 9 comprised of more than one storage battery technology in a room or 10 enclosed area. Neither "battery energy storage site" nor "battery energy 11 storage system" shall include those reserved for use in industrial 12 zones, nor those reserved for small-scale residential applications. 13 3. "Elected state official" means the senator representing the senate 14 district in which the facility is proposed to be sited and the assembly- 15 member representing the assembly district in which the facility is 16 proposed to be sited. 17 4. "Filing" means all filings associated with the proposed siting of a 18 battery energy storage system. 19 5. "Municipality" means any village, town, city, or county. 20 § 22-103. Mandatory notice to elected officials of battery energy 21 storage system siting proposals. 1. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, 22 or regulation to the contrary, all governmental entities engaged in any 23 stage of the battery energy storage system siting proposal process shall 24 furnish elected state officials with notice of filings associated with 25 proposed battery energy storage sites and systems throughout the entire- 26 ty of the siting proposal process. Governmental entities shall include, 27 but not be limited to, municipalities and their town councils and town 28 boards, as well as zoning boards, siting boards, planning boards, and 29 entities operating under similar missions and duties; community boards; 30 and, where relevant, the public service commission and its department of 31 public service's office of renewable energy siting, as well as the New 32 York state energy research and development authority. 33 2. Elected state officials shall be entitled to receive notice by the 34 governmental entity no later than ten business days after the applicant 35 makes each filing with any of the governmental entities referenced in 36 subdivision one of this section. 37 3. A notice form shall be sent via one piece of priority mail or one 38 standard box dispatched to the elected official's district office or 39 offices and an e-mail communication, with the recipient e-mail address 40 being that of the state elected official's publicly-available e-mail 41 address with the stem of @nysenate.gov or @nyassembly.gov. 42 4. The notice form pursuant to subdivision three of this section shall 43 contain a copy of all the contents contained in the original filing. An 44 exception shall be made for disclosures of content that would result in 45 the disclosure of trade secrets, and applicants shall be permitted to 46 redact said content, provided, however, such content shall not redact 47 the components of a lithium-ion battery, all battery modules which house 48 battery cells, the presence of a battery management system, and the 49 presence of vented deflagration systems, dust explosion venting systems, 50 and gas explosion venting systems in the facility. 51 5. ORES shall communicate the link to its most up-to-date statewide 52 map located on its website, as referenced in subdivision five of section 53 one hundred thirty-eight of the public service law. 54 6. The penalty levied for failing to furnish notice to elected state 55 officials shall be between one thousand to ten thousand dollars each day 
 A. 8141 3 1 past the ten-day period, at the discretion of the department of public 2 service. 3 § 2. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 149 to 4 read as follows: 5 § 149. Battery energy storage site and system mandatory notice related 6 to siting major renewable energy facilities and siting major renewable 7 electric transmission facilities. 1. For the purposes of this section, 8 the following terms shall have the following meanings: 9 (a) "Applicant" shall have the same meaning as defined in section 10 22-101 of the energy law. 11 (b) "Battery energy storage site" shall mean for purposes of the 12 siting of a major renewable energy facility, shall not include stand- 13 alone battery energy storage systems (BESSs), shall be defined as a site 14 housing a BESS equipped with rechargeable batteries that can store elec- 15 tricity from the grid or, directly or indirectly, from renewable sources 16 like solar and wind power, to be released later when needed, helping to 17 balance energy supply and demand, where "battery energy storage system" 18 denotes one or more devices, assembled together, capable of storing 19 energy in order to supply electrical energy at a future time, not to 20 include a stand-alone twelve-volt car battery or an electric motor vehi- 21 cle, and which is classified as a tier one or tier two battery energy 22 storage system as follows: (a) tier one battery energy storage systems 23 shall possess an aggregate energy capacity less than or equal to six 24 hundred kilowatt hours and, if in a room or enclosed area, consist of 25 only a single energy storage system technology; (b) tier two battery 26 energy storage systems shall possess an aggregate energy capacity great- 27 er than six hundred kilowatt hours or are comprised of more than one 28 storage battery technology in a room or enclosed area. Neither "battery 29 energy storage site" nor "battery energy storage system" shall include 30 those reserved for use in industrial zones, nor those reserved for 31 small-scale residential applications. 32 (c) "Elected state official" shall have the same meaning as defined in 33 section 22-101 of the energy law. 34 (d) "Filing" shall have the same meaning as defined in section 22-101 35 of the energy law. 36 2. Notwithstanding any other law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, 37 all governmental entities engaged in any stage of the battery energy 38 storage system siting proposal process shall furnish elected state offi- 39 cials with notice of filings associated with proposed battery energy 40 storage sites and systems throughout the entirety of the siting proposal 41 process. Governmental entities shall include, but not be limited to, 42 municipalities and their town councils and town boards, as well as 43 zoning boards, siting boards, planning boards, and entities operating 44 under similar missions and duties; community boards; and, where rele- 45 vant, the public service commission and its department of public 46 service's office of renewable energy siting. 47 3. Elected state officials shall be entitled to receive notice by the 48 governmental entity no later than ten business days after the applicant 49 makes each filing with any of the governmental entities referenced in 50 subdivision one of this section. 51 4. A notice form shall be sent via one piece of priority mail or one 52 standard box dispatched to the elected official's district office or 53 offices and an e-mail communication, with the recipient e-mail address 54 being that of the state elected official's publicly-available e-mail 55 address with the stem of @nysenate.gov or @nyassembly.gov. 
 A. 8141 4 1 5. The notice form pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall 2 contain a copy of all the contents contained in the original filing. An 3 exception shall be made for disclosures of content that would result in 4 the disclosure of trade secrets, and applicants shall be permitted to 5 redact said content, provided, however, such content shall not redact 6 the components of a lithium-ion battery, all battery modules which house 7 battery cells, the presence of a battery management system, and the 8 presence of vented deflagration systems, dust explosion venting systems, 9 and gas explosion venting systems in the facility. 10 6. ORES shall communicate the link to its most up-to-date statewide 11 map located on its website, as referenced in subdivision five of section 12 one hundred thirty-eight of this article. 13 7. The penalty levied for failing to furnish notice to elected state 14 officials shall be between one thousand to ten thousand dollars each day 15 past the ten-day period, at the discretion of the department. 16 § 3. Section 1901 of the public authorities law is amended by adding a 17 new subdivision 10 to read as follows: 18 10. "Battery energy storage system" shall have the same meaning as 19 such term is defined in subdivision eight of this section when accompa- 20 nying a build-ready site that is considered a major renewable energy 21 facility, but only regarding paired qualified energy storage systems and 22 battery energy storage systems as such terms are defined in section 23 22-101 of the energy law and section one hundred forty-nine of the 24 public service law. 25 § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 1902 of the public authorities law, as 26 amended by section 5 of part M of chapter 58 of the laws of 2024, is 27 amended to read as follows: 28 3. Establish procedures and protocols for the purpose of establishment 29 and transfer of build-ready sites which shall include, at a minimum: (a) 30 written notice at the earliest practicable time to a municipality in 31 which a potential build-ready site has been identified[, provided howev- 32 er, that] and, when an accompanying battery energy storage system (BESS) 33 is being proposed, written notice by the municipality and related 34 governmental entities engaged in the siting proposal process, including 35 the authority [shall not deem any site for qualified energy storage 36 systems suitable without first consulting any municipalities with juris- 37 diction over the potential], to elected state officials representing, 38 respectively, the senate and assembly districts in which the build-ready 39 site and [obtaining their approval] BESS are proposed to be sited, 40 subject to penalties between one thousand dollars and ten thousand 41 dollars levied by the attorney general for non-compliance with the 42 latter directive; and (b) a preliminary screening process to determine, 43 in consultation with the department of environmental conservation, 44 whether the potential build-ready site is located in or near an environ- 45 mental justice area and whether an environmental justice area would be 46 adversely affected by development of a build-ready site; 47 § 5. Severability. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, 48 section or part of this act shall be adjudged by any court of competent 49 jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or 50 invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation 51 to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part thereof 52 directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have 53 been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the legislature 54 that this act would have been enacted even if such invalid provisions 55 had not been included herein. 
 A. 8141 5 1 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to pending 2 siting permit applications; provided, however, that the amendments to 3 section 149 of the public service law made by section two and sections 4 1901 and 1902 of the public authorities law made by sections three and 5 four of this act shall not affect the repeal of such sections and shall 6 be deemed repealed therewith.