Battery storage feeds into affordability
Matthew Aracich
Battery energy storage is critical infrastructure — which in turn means jobs and investment. When Long Island builds a utility-scale battery project, electricians, operating engineers, laborers, ironworkers and Teamsters go to work. Apprentices earn while they learn. Families get health coverage and a pension. Private money flows in, and young people get a reason to build their futures here instead of leaving.
The Islip Town Board is now weighing a change to their energy storage code that would effectively prohibit community-scale and grid-scale storage projects, therefore shutting the door on the grid, economic and jobs benefits of these projects. The town’s battery storage moratorium expires Sept. 30.