A commercial battery storage facility is proposed for Wormer Road in New Scotland. Here's what residents need to know.
New Leaf Energy has proposed a battery energy storage system (BESS) on land owned by a sitting Town Councilman, in a residential neighborhood with wells, on a road with no public water source for fire suppression. The Planning Board review is ongoing — here's the factual background, the concerns residents have raised, and how to get involved before a decision is made.
We need to fight this as a community — if it can go in our backyard, the next one can go in yours. Please stand with us and tell the Town of New Scotland this doesn't belong on Wormer Road. Scroll down to read what a BESS is, why you should care, and what you can do to speak out for safe energy siting — or jump straight to our FAQ.
0fire hydrants at 37 Wormer RoadGuilderland will not provide public water to the proposed facility.
1BESS system proposed — 5 MW / 20 MWh
13.8acres at 37 Wormer Road
1sitting town councilman owns the landAdam Greenberg is a member of the New Scotland Town Board.
What a BESS is
A Battery Energy Storage System stores electricity in large battery arrays and releases it back to the grid when demand is high. They use large storage containers filled with lithium-ion batteries.
The Wormer Road proposal
New Leaf Energy has proposed a battery energy storage facility at 37 Wormer Road in the Town of New Scotland, Albany County. The land is owned by sitting New Scotland Town Councilman Adam Greenberg. The project was originally proposed as three 5-megawatt BESS systems across two parcels, then reduced to one 5-MW / 20-MWh system after National Grid identified power-line interconnection capacity constraints.
New Leaf Energy prepared this map to illustrate the proposed BESS facility's distance from existing structures. Rather than demonstrating meaningful separation, the map shows how close the proposed battery facility would be to neighboring homes and other properties. For residents living nearby, the question is simple: would you want a large-scale battery storage facility this close to your home?— From New Leaf Energy's submittal to the Town of New Scotland
Two-mile evacuation radius
In the event of a major fire involving a lithium-ion battery energy storage system, emergency planning can require evacuations extending well beyond the immediate facility. The map highlights a two-mile radius within a critical danger zone for potential impact, while evacuations may extend up to 4 miles.
A two-mile evacuation radius associated with a significant BESS fire.
Land ownership & the BESS law timeline
As reported by Dan LaGrange in the Altamont Enterprise on Oct. 24, 2025, the timeline is as follows: in 2023, Eden Renewables approached the Town of New Scotland to explore building a battery storage facility. Anticipating a rise in these proposals, the town board — including member Adam Greenberg — began developing guidelines to control their placement. In 2024, those regulations were drafted, reviewed, and approved by New Scotland board members, including Greenberg, resulting in amendments to Local Law 1, 2024 governing Special Use Permits for BESS facilities.
Greenberg was aware that energy companies were eyeing the Town of New Scotland as far back as 2023, which is why he and the other board members were tasked with amending Local Law 1 in 2024. In a separate Altamont Enterprise article on 9/5/25, Greenberg said he received letters about a different property he owns next to a substation in East Greenbush: "They were looking into that, and I mentioned that I had some other property if they were interested," he said. In an interview on Spectrum News, Greenberg is quoted as saying, "I'm sorry, but they have to go somewhere."
We say: they don't have to go in our backyards. And other towns agree.
The wetlands on the 37 Wormer Road property proposed for the BESS facility.
Stricter regulations by nearby towns
Local Law 1, 2024 is something of an anomaly compared with BESS regulations and safeguards adopted by other New York townships. A 1,000-foot setback from residential property is becoming the standard for safeguarding residents across the state, and many towns limit these commercial batteries to industrial zones.
Around 100 towns in New York have either banned BESS facilities outright or adopted moratoriums while they draft stricter regulations. That includes Guilderland, which extended its moratorium and said at its Aug. 18 town meeting that it's working on regulations stricter than New Scotland's; Bethlehem, whose draft regulations forbid these commercial batteries in residential zones; and Duanesburg, which has banned them outright because the "town relies on volunteer firefighters and that part of the town lacks access to public water."
Bipartisan support for stricter regulations
Two bills currently pending in the State Assembly and Senate would require a 750-foot setback between commercial battery storage facilities and residential property. As of August 19, 2026, the proposal has 33 Democratic and 24 Republican cosponsors. The closest property line at the 37 Wormer Road site is about 130 feet away — well under that proposed setback.
Why Should I Care?
01
No public water source at 37 Wormer Road. Homes rely on private wells — no reliable, sufficient water source is available for fire suppression.
02
Fire & toxic gas risk. Lithium-ion battery failures are severe, and release deadly toxic gases and forever chemicals. See documented incidents in our FAQ →
03
Emergency response readiness. As stated by New Leaf in submitted documents, it can take up to 4 hours for their emergency response experts to arrive on scene when a fire occurs, leaving our volunteer fire department to handle the emergency on a restricted-access site that puts them at risk of serious injury.
04
Noise. Cooling-fan noise has been flagged by the planning board itself as exceeding allowable limits.
05
Land ownership & the BESS law. Councilman Adam Greenberg owns the Wormer Road land. Opponents call this a conflict of interest — the planning board chair says the board can't factor it into its decision.
06
Residential character. Local Law 1 of 2020, § 190-14 of Wormer Road's residential zoning, says the purpose of the district is "to discourage growth on unsuitable lands and encourage development of natural areas suitable for passive recreation." Instead, the board is considering industrial-scale battery storage — which belong on remote or already-industrial land, not next to homes on a residential road.
Each point above is sourced from public letters, reporting, and planning board discussion — not speculation. See News & Coverage below.
You're not alone — signs like these are already up around the neighborhood.
Guilderland officials say they will not extend water service to the proposed 37 Wormer Road site — the only solution New Scotland's planning board chairman had said was under serious consideration for meeting fire-suppression water needs, since the on-site pond isn't considered sufficient. Guilderland Supervisor Peter Barber told his own town board the request was a non-starter, both because of Guilderland's own BESS moratorium (extended another four months on Aug. 18) and because extending the water main — which currently ends about a quarter-mile from the site — would require a pump station and roughly two years of work. New Scotland residents told the Guilderland board the site is mostly wetlands with wells about 300 feet away, inside the town's 130-foot setback, and that fire chiefs from Voorheesville and New Salem said they couldn't confidently protect residents in a two-mile evacuation radius reaching local schools and country clubs. Whether the refusal actually affects New Scotland's review is unclear — "I have no idea," Barber said.
The Town of New Scotland approved its first BESS special-use permit in July 2026, after a year-long review that attached 45 conditions: RIC Development's five-megawatt facility (five Tesla Megapack 2XL units) at 1543 Indian Fields Road in Feura Bush, including a $200,000 contribution to the Feura Bush Water District for fire-protection upgrades, a required water line or 23,000-gallon water tank, $5 million in insurance, and a decommissioning bond. Two more applications remain pending: New Leaf Energy's 5-MW Wormer Road proposal, tabled over unresolved water-access concerns for fire protection, and a new 4.5-MW proposal from Adaptive Infrastructure Partners at 125 Vista Blvd., commissioned by National Grid as temporary backup during nearby substation work.
Residents near the proposed battery storage site on Wormer Road continue to raise safety concerns, pointing to the lack of fire hydrants on the road and questioning whether an on-site pond would be adequate for fire suppression. Letters submitted to the town cited past battery-storage fires elsewhere, including incidents in California and Nevada, as well as a fire near Watertown, NY that reportedly forced the cancellation of a local festival. Residents have also asked for an outdoor warning siren, arguing that phone alerts could arrive too late if hazardous gases are released early in a battery failure.
NEWS10 reports from a packed New Scotland meeting where residents voiced concerns about the proposed 37 Wormer Road battery storage facility. The report highlights residents' questions about fire safety, emergency response, and the proposed facility's proximity to surrounding homes.
Spectrum News examines New York's growing reliance on battery energy storage and the concerns raised by residents living near proposed facilities, including the 37 Wormer Road proposal in New Scotland. The report covers residents' concerns about fire safety, emergency response, and the facility's proximity to homes, as well as the broader debate over where large-scale battery storage should be located.
While a separate BESS proposal from RIC Energy in Feura Bush moved toward final approval, the Wormer Road proposal from New Leaf Energy continued to face planning board scrutiny. At an April 7 meeting, the board took no action, citing the need for New Leaf to address cooling-fan noise levels that exceeded allowable limits, demonstrate the reliability of an on-site fire-suppression pond, comply with the town's tree-replacement policy, and finalize a legal agreement locking in the company's operational, financial, and environmental commitments to the town.
New Leaf Energy's original application proposed a five-megawatt system at 37 Wormer Road and two additional systems at 128 Wormer Road, which would have required a zoning variance since town code caps each site's storage systems at one per seven-acre parcel. Planning board members raised early concerns about fire safety and the readiness of local volunteer fire departments, and the developer scheduled training sessions with the Onesquethaw Volunteer Fire Company.
Fifty towns across the Adirondack Park have now adopted BESS moratoriums, bans, or specific siting protections, according to a list compiled by guest contributor Violet Martin. Officials cite fire safety, environmental impact, emergency-response capability, land use conflicts, noise, and community character as the questions prompting local governments to pause and update zoning that predates the technology. The piece notes the Park's status as the largest publicly protected park in the contiguous U.S. — its wetlands, lakes, forests, wildlife, and scenic resources — as a reason towns are taking a closer look before approving projects.
The City of Johnstown's common council voted unanimously to enact a one-year moratorium on battery energy storage systems — just 45 minutes after a Nexamp-hired consultant finished presenting a proposed 2-MW facility on Grove Street. Officials said the pause would give the city time to write land-use regulations, including setbacks and screening requirements, before any project could move forward. Johnstown's moratorium was one of more than a dozen enacted across the Capital Region within a ten-week span, as towns respond to community concern about battery storage siting.
The Wormer Road proposal became entangled in New Scotland's November 2025 town board election, after Republicans argued that Councilman Adam Greenberg — on whose land the project would sit — had personally benefited from voting for the town's BESS regulatory law months before being approached by the developer, a characterization Greenberg disputes; he has said, and the paper reported, that he voted for the law before any developer contact. Greenberg won reelection. At an October public hearing on a separate, nearby BESS proposal, residents voiced concerns about fire risk and the preparedness of volunteer fire departments, with over two dozen speakers nearly unanimous in opposition.
Escondido, CA residents wrote to the paper describing fleeing their homes in the middle of the night on Sept. 5, 2024, after a fire at a nearby battery energy storage facility triggered evacuations and filled their neighborhood with fumes. They and other letter-writers called on San Diego County leaders to enact a moratorium on new BESS facilities in residential areas, citing four Southern California BESS fires in the preceding year — three of them in San Diego County alone.
Residents have submitted questions, concerns, letters, and other
documents regarding the proposed Wormer Road BESS project. Read the
public record and see what community members have raised during the
ongoing review.
Documents are provided for public access and are presented as
submitted. The collection may continue to grow as additional
documents become available.
A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) stores electricity in large arrays of lithium-ion batteries, the same technology behind the largest and most damaging fires described above. Facilities like the one proposed for Wormer Road are typically industrial-scale, and are normally sited on industrial land — not on a residential road.
Are BESS fires actually common?
They don't need to be common to be a serious risk — when large-scale lithium-ion battery fires happen, they're severe, extremely hard to extinguish, and can contaminate air, soil, and water for years afterward. This is not a technology with a clean safety record, in New York or nationally:
East Hampton, NY (2023) — a National Grid battery storage fire is now the subject of a federal lawsuit after PFAS contamination was found in nearby public drinking-water wells — the exact kind of well-water risk residents are raising about Wormer Road.
Jefferson County, NY (2023) — a battery storage fire in the Town of Lyme burned for days; nearly 30 regional fire departments responded and didn't know how to fight it.
Warwick, NY (2023–2025) — three separate lithium-ion battery storage fires in about two years; the facility was condemned and ordered shut down after the most recent, in December 2025.
Moss Landing, CA (Jan 2025) — destroyed most of the world's largest battery storage facility and forced over 1,000 residents to evacuate, then reignited a month later from batteries buried in the rubble.
The Moss Landing fire on the night of Jan. 16, 2025, photographed from 18 miles away.— Photo by Guy Churchward (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia CommonsFlames burning through a battery container during the September 2024 Escondido, CA fire.— Don Bartletti / The San Diego Union-Tribune, via Firehouse.comWhat was left of the Moss Landing building the morning after.— U.S. EPA, Moss Landing Vistra Battery Fire ResponseA Tesla Megapack fireball at the September 2025 Boulder City, NV fire.— Electrek
The proposed 37 Wormer Road site has no fire hydrants, and nearby homes rely on private wells. Guilderland will not provide public water to the proposed facility.
Where is the proposed project site?
The project would sit on one parcel on Wormer Road in the Town of New Scotland, Albany County: 37 Wormer Road (13.8 acres). This parcel is owned by Councilman Adam Greenberg.
Why are some residents opposed to a BESS on Wormer Road?
BESS facilities are typically sited in industrial areas with hydrants, professional fire response nearby, and distance from homes — precisely because large-scale lithium-ion fires, when they happen, are severe and hard to control. The proposed site at 37 Wormer Road has no fire hydrants. Nearby homes rely on private wells, and Guilderland will not provide public water to the proposed facility. We don't think a residential road is an appropriate place for a facility like this, full stop.
What's the concern about Councilman Greenberg owning the land?
According to Town of New Scotland public records and Altamont Enterprise reporting, the Wormer Road property is owned by Councilman Adam Greenberg. Greenberg has stated — and the Altamont Enterprise has independently reported — that he was approached by New Leaf Energy after the town's energy storage law was adopted in May 2024, and that he voted for but did not author that law (led by Councilman Dan Leinung). Planning board chairman Jeff Baker has stated the board cannot legally factor Greenberg's financial interest into its decision, and that the project was brought to Greenberg after the law was already in motion. We're not asserting wrongdoing — we think residents deserve to know these facts and draw their own conclusions.
What's the status of the review right now?
Not yet approved — it's still under active review by the New Scotland Planning Board. This is exactly the stage where public input can still make a difference, which is why we're asking residents to get involved now. As of the most recent reporting,
Who will decide whether the project is approved?
The New Scotland Planning Board is reviewing the site plan application. The exact remaining procedural steps and any appeal rights aren't fully documented in public reporting as of this writing — for the authoritative process, check townofnewscotland.gov or contact the Town Clerk.
What can I do if I want to speak out about this project?
Jump down to our Take Action section — sign the petition, sign up for updates, find current Town Board and Planning Board contact information, and see upcoming hearing dates.
Take Action
Sign the petition
A petition opposing BESS installations in residential neighborhoods is live on Change.org — add your signature to show the Town how much support there is for stopping this project.
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Contact the Town
New Scotland Town Hall 2029 New Scotland Rd, Slingerlands, NY 12159 518-439-9153
