The Town of Hanover held a public hearing on Monday night at the Town Hall to discuss a proposed battery energy storage system in the town. The hearing itself — not including the regular Town Board meeting to follow — lasted just nine minutes shy of three hours long.

Phil Michalowski, one of the many speakers over the course of the public hearing, summed up the general consensus of the overcrowded room with one phrase: “Put one in your back yard. Don’t put one in mine.”

The Town Board was shocked at the turnout for the meeting, as the crowd grew to well over 100 people and spilled out into the hallways from multiple exits from the courtroom. There was not an empty seat in sight, nor was there a parking space to be found as vehicles wrapped all the way around the building leading up to the hearing.

Residents began the night already in a sour mood, complaining that they could not hear the speakers and presenters from the halls. Town Clerk Elizabeth VanCheri attempted to address the complaints by offering a live stream of the meeting on Facebook for those who could not see or hear what was shared.

Phil Michalowski spoke strongly in opposition to a proposed battery energy storage system in the Town of Hanover.

Then followed the presentation of a proposed 250 megawatt lithium-ion battery storage project, which would be owned by Northland Power, Inc., the same owner as the Ball Hill Wind Turbine project. The interconnection would be located on Stebbins Road through National Grid. The earliest date for operation would likely be in 2028.

While plenty of Town residents spoke strongly against the project, many others traveled from out of town to share their own opinions on battery storage systems and other forms of green energy. Guests from Fredonia and even Sinclairville took their turn in the spotlight to take aim at Northland Power. Very few spoke out with anything positive to say about the proposal, even after a detailed presentation and many answers provided by Northland Power representatives to follow.

First to speak from the audience was Karen Engstrom, who recorded the meeting to be posted later on YouTube. Engstrom posed the question, “Are the economic incentives worth the risks of the possibility of a catastrophe?”

Engstrom presented the Town Board with several attachments to her comments via email, including testimony from a firefighter and a research paper. Engstrom defined battery energy storage systems as expensive, dangerous, and short-lived.

Later during public comments, Silver Creek resident Mike Dee reiterated his consistent opposition to green energy, such as wind, solar, and battery energy systems.

Speaking at a public hearing in Hanover for a battery energy storage system proposal, Karen Engstrom posed the question, “Are the economic incentives worth the risks of the possibility of a catastrophe?”

Dee said battery energy storage systems are “exactly the wrong technologies” for providing electrical power due to “their inherent intermittency.” Dee shared that Germans named the problem “Dunkelflaute”, which is a combination of the German words dunkel (dark) and flaute (lull).

To the crowd’s amusement, Dee repeated the phrase “Dunkelflaute” several times throughout his comments, connecting a loss of jobs in Germany to net-zero emission pursuits. Dee said, “Green Energy is no friend to working people. Ask the Germans.”

Following Dee was Michalowski, who thanked the Town Board for giving him the platform to address the issue. Michalowski paced the aisle as he spoke, commanding the attention of the room for the 10 minutes he was granted. His statements were crafted as a performance, reminiscent of a drill sergeant – fitting of a veteran and a retired firefighter at the age of 64.

“I never thought I’d have to do this, but now I’ll be an activist. I’ll be a pain in your rear end you would not believe,” Michalowski said.

Michalowski’s anger was aimed directly at the representatives from Northland Power. Michalowski accused them of spreading “propaganda” and questioned them several times throughout the public hearing.

“You’ve got no track record with this garbage. You’re just crossing your fingers thinking everything is going to keep going good,” Michalowski said. “… You’re asking for trouble. This is crazy.”

Many of the concerns centered around the risk of a fire. Northland Power referenced three battery storage system fires across New York state and the measures they plan to take to mitigate the concerns. Despite batteries being stored in their own individual enclosure and a thermal monitoring system to remotely track temperatures of each unit, many speakers did not feel the risk of a potentially catastrophic event was worth the benefit.

One of the few speakers to show support for the project was Colin Erdle, a landowner who stands to benefit from the project. Erdle simplified the reasoning for battery storage facilities by stating, “The whole reason why you hook a battery up to a windmill is so that the battery stores the energy from the windmill, so that when the windmill is not running, the battery can put the energy out. These will work better when you have a battery attached to them.”

Erdle, a sixth generation farmer, is in favor of the project thanks in part to the safety measures that will be put in place. He was “extremely impressed” by the level of detail that has been proposed.

Feeling on an island after the project received so much criticism from others in the room, Erdle referenced the pandemic and how people reacted in its early stages. “Five years ago, a lot of people who didn’t have degrees in virology got really scared, and they made us all wear masks. I’m kind of getting that feel from the room right now,” Erdle said.

The project is targeted for a location just 1.3 miles away from the Silver Creek Central School District. While no one spoke specifically on behalf of the school, one of the district’s most important voices was heard loud and clear.

Molly Shaw, a 10th grade student at Silver Creek High School, addressed the crowd after two hours of waiting her turn to speak. Shaw was introduced as the district’s Student Representative on the Board of Education at a meeting less than two weeks prior to the public hearing. Shaw is also varsity athlete at Silver Creek, competing year-round as a runner in cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track; and is also Co-President of the Youth Advisory Committee and an advocate for Unified sports.

Shaw has two younger siblings who also attend Silver Creek — a younger sister in eighth grade and a younger brother in sixth grade. Shaw and her two siblings not only go to school less than two miles away from the proposed site, they also live approximately a quarter-mile away from it.

“If something were to happen, my school is in that area, my house is in that area, where I run and train is in that area,” Shaw said.

To advocate for inclusion as part of the Youth Advisory Committee, Shaw attended the previous Town Board meeting. Shaw said that the Board spoke to supporting the future of the region and valuing input from youth in the area.

“It was important for me to come to this meeting tonight and put my input in,” Shaw said. “I don’t feel safe, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for this to be put in so close to so many important things.”

If approved, the project would be located in the host communities of the Town of Hanover and the Silver Creek Central School District. Anticipated revenue from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) would likely span over 15 years, while payments through Host Community Agreements (HCA) and a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) would span across the useful life of the project, anticipated at 25 years.

Hanover Supervisor Lou Pelletter asked at the previous presentation of the project, “What’s in it for the Town of Hanover?”

As a result of Pelletter’s pushback, Northland Power raised its offer of $250,000 annually to the Town through the HCA and $250,000 annually in the PILOT to be divided between the Town, Silver Creek Schools, and Chautauqua County. Those figures were adjusted to $275,000 to the Town through the HCA and $22,450 to the Town through the PILOT, escalating at an increase of 2% each year over the total life of the project of 25 years. Chautauqua County would receive $79,041 and the Silver Creek Central School District would receive $123,149 through the PILOT, also escalating at an increase of 2% each year over the 25-year life of the project.

Payments to landowners of the proposed project are estimated at between $2.2 million to $2.5 million over the life of the project. Northland Power also expressed a desire to contribute to local fire departments in recognition of the added risk to the community.

Local business owner and community volunteer Kelly Borrello questioned Northland Power regarding how the Town would be compensated for the project. Following their response that the revenue from the project – subsidized by New York State – will compensate the Town, Borrello said, “The State of New York, our tax dollars. Just so everybody understands, they are going to take our money and give it back to us.”

Many of the residents learned of the public hearing through circulating social media posts on Facebook. Alluding to that, Erdle punctuated his comments with a joke.

“I read on Facebook that if these things burn enough, it can burn a hole all the way to hell and let the devil out,” Erdle said. “But that was on Facebook.”

Video of the public hearing is available online on the Town of Hanover Facebook page.