Proposed Wormer Road BESS project shrinks

Friday, November 14, 2025 - 18:03

— Google Earth

Instead of three battery energy storage systems originally proposed for  37 and 128 Wormer Road, New Leaf Energy is now proposing just these two.

NEW SCOTLAND — The trio of large-scale battery energy storage systems proposed for Wormer Road has become a duo following feedback from National Grid.

New Leaf Energy’s latest proposal is for the installation of two five-megawatt, 20,000-kilowatt-hour systems at 37 and 128 Wormer Road, properties owned by Councilman Adam Greenberg. 

The reduction from three systems to two was necessitated by constraints identified during coordination with National Grid, which determined the capacity of its lines could not accommodate 10 megawatts of power from the 128 Wormer Road site.

The current proposal would involve the installation of 12 Tesla-made units that stockpile renewable energy collected during the day and send it to the grid during peak-use evening hours. Each unit measures about 10 feet high by six feet wide and 30 feet long. 

The original proposal was for five Tesla units at each of the three BESS sites for a total of 15.

A battery cabinet has been added at each of the two proposed sites to compensate for the inevitable degradation that will occur, meaning BESS output will be maintained at the full five-megawatt capacity over the lifespan of the project.

The project became a flashpoint in the recent race for town board with Republicans claiming that Greenberg, an incumbent Democrat who cruised to victory on Nov. 4, had enriched himself by voting to regulate large-scale energy storage systems in town. Greenberg had voted for the town’s BESS law months before being approached by New Leaf.

The board did not schedule a public hearing as New Leaf had yet to submit additional application materials. 

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