Equinor-owned East Point Energy has officially withdrawn plans to construct a 116MW standalone BESS in New York State after officials at the Town of Carmel indefinitely banned the development of new utility-scale battery storage facilities.
After reaching out for comment, an East Point Energy-representative confirmed to Energy-Storage.news that its Union Energy Center had recently been “removed from consideration for local approvals” in response to the BESS moratorium.
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Half a decade of development
East Point Energy first considered its Union Energy Center at the beginning of 2020, when a representative for the developer reached out to the Town of Carmel’s Building Inspector Michael Carnazza, enquiring about the town’s stance on utility-scale storage.
In response to East Point Energy, Carnazza confirmed that although grid-scale battery storage was permitted in the town, the developer would require approval from the Planning Board.
Prior to submitting its application with the Planning Board, East Point Energy filed an interconnection request with the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) for the project during May 2021.
The request was submitted under East Point Energy’s Union Energy Center, LLC subsidiary for 116MW of energy storage connecting to the grid via New York State Electric & Gas’ (NYSEG’s) Union Valley – Croton Falls 115kV transmission line.
Due to the queue request, details of East Point’s Union Energy Center already existed in the public domain. However, the majority of local residents first learnt of its existence during August 2023, when the developer submitted an application for the project with the Town of Carmel’s Planning Board.
According to the application, the project would utilise lithium-ion technology encompassing approximately 93 acres of land within the Town of Carmel’s unincorporated hamlet of Mahopac in Putnam County, adjacent to a substation owned by NYSEG.
As part of its application with the Town of Carmel, East Point included a full Environmental Assessment Form (EAF) along with a fire assessment.
East Point said it proposed the project to help the State of New York reach its target of deploying 6GW of BESS by 2030, as set by State Governor Kathy Hochul in 2022, in an update to New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) legislation enacted by predecessor Andrew Cuomo.
In related news, the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) recently approved a scheme to support the development of new BESS facilities across the state – dubbed the Bulk Energy Storage Program Implementation Plan.
NYSERDA, the scheme’s proponent, is the sponsor of an Energy-Storage.news webinar on the topic taking place tomorrow, Thursday 3 April at 2pm EST. The webinar is the first in a two-part series. NYSERDA CEO Doreen Harris and VP for large-scale renewables Georges Sassine will discuss New York’s energy storage landscape and the integral role of storage in the state’s clean energy transition.
Temporary moratorium while town officials investigate
As first reported by ESN Premium last year, in response to East Point’s application, the Carmel Town Board initiated plans to temporarily ban the approval of new BESS facilities whilst it considered changes to its zoning laws.
Following an initial discussion in May 2024, the Board passed a six-month moratorium on considering and approving new storage facilities due to the ‘significant safety concerns’ surrounding BESS. In the moratorium document, the Board made reference to other ‘fire incidents at facilities across the state.’
During the third quarter of 2023, fires occurred at two different BESS facilities within New York State, which drew widespread media attention and public scrutiny.
The temporary moratorium drew support from a handful of influential individuals, including New York State Senator for District 40 Pete Harckham. The Senator reached out to Carmel Supervisor Carnazza, applauding the town’s efforts in pausing energy storage deployment.
Harkham described the proposed site for Union Energy Center as “particularly sensitive” due to its close proximity to residential homes.
As the expiration date of the temporary moratorium approached and instead of considering an extension, town officials chose to take definitive action through the passing of an indefinite moratorium.
On 16 October 2024, the Board voted unanimously to prohibit the approval of any new BESS facilities exceeding 600kWh, effectively banning utility-scale storage in the town.
According to a website dedicated to the project (which has since been taken offline), East Point Energy said it was “assessing the moratorium approved by the Town of Carmel town board to determine the next steps for the Union Energy Center project.”
In December 2024, East Point withdrew its NYISO interconnection request for Union Energy Center, which, it now appears, was an indication of things to come.
“Success of BESS projects can only be achieved through open dialogue”
On 11 March 2025, in an email addressed to Carmel’s Planning Board, Senior Project Developer at East Point, Will Frost, said the developer was formally removing the project from local consideration.
After reaching out for comment on the moratorium and subsequent project withdrawal, East Point Energy said the following:
“Energy storage is critical to the future reliability of New York’s electrical grid; demand continues to grow at a time when antiquated energy generation is being phased out.
Although we had a presence in the community while developing the Union Energy Center, our experience underscores the importance of continual stakeholder engagement. The success of BESS projects can only be achieved through open dialogue with communities and demonstrating the benefits these systems offer to New Yorkers.”
In the US, East Point Energy currently has six standalone BESS projects with a cumulative capacity of 190MW/380MWh under construction, made up of two projects in Texas and four in Virginia.
East Point Energy is developing the four Virginia projects, each with 20MW/40MWh of capacity, alongside Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC).
Norwegian state-owned energy company Equinor acquired East Point Energy as a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2022. Equinor said at the time that it would invest in the developer to enable it to become an owner of projects as well as developing them to sell on.
