Beacon Flywheel Station Still On Course

by David Flint
It’s coming up on a year now that the Stephentown Planning Board granted a Special Use Permit to the Beacon Power Corporation to build a flywheel based 20-megawatt frequency regulation plant on Grange Hall Road. So far nothing has happened at the site. But Beacon’s attorney, Brian Baker, was back before the Planning Board on June 18 to assure them that a lot has been done and the company is still on course to constructing the planned facility. Present were Board Members Tom Morelli, Lew Sharp, Robert Lobdell, Derrick Gardner and Freling Smith and Alternate Member James Ayling and Secretary Patricia Gallup. Also present at the meeting were the Town’s attorney, Craig Crist, and Michael Bianchino, the Town’s engineer from Clough Harbour.
Town law says that a special use permit may expire after one year unless the entity receiving it has done due diligence toward accomplishing the project for which the permit was granted.
Baker presented a letter from Beacon’s Director of Marketing & Sales, Chet Lyons, outlining the significant time and expense the company has expended in obtaining the necessary approvals from, among others, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the New York Independent Service Operator (NYISO) or grid operator, the Federal Department of Energy (DOE) and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), “Taken together,” Lyons concluded, “these activities and progress milestones evidence vigorous, non-stop and successful pursuit of required steps necessary to launch the construction phase of the project. We are in the final stage of the DOE loan guarantee process and are confident that the loan guarantee will be secured.”
Crist presented to the Board a supplement to the Special Use Permit that would not only extend the period for one year in which progress needs to be shown but would also do two other things. It would make clear that any subsidiaries or successors to Beacon would be bound by all the terms and agreements of the Permit, and it would allow the company to put money in escrow instead of posting a bond or irrevocable letter of credit to ensure that landscaping and fencing are maintained and the site is cleaned up in the event it should ever be closed or abandoned. Baker said he had received an estimate from local contractors regarding such a cleanup in the amount of $46,000, but the Board said they would rely on an estimate to be provided by Bianchino, one that will mitigate the eroding effects of inflation. Escrow funds would be held in a mutually approved savings trust account, to be created and controlled by the Town, with interest to accrue to the account itself. If it is determined that the funds need to be drawn down for any reason, Beacon will be given 60 days notice unless there is a health hazard involved.
The Board set a special meeting for Thursday, July 2, at 7:30 pm for the purpose of approving the supplement with the appropriate escrow numbers to be supplied by Bianchino.
Board members wanted some idea as to when the start of construction might be expected. Bianchino said he has not yet filed for a storm water discharge permit from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) but that will be done soon and he expected a quick review by DEC. In the absence of DOE actually approving the loan guarantee, Baker could say only that we might see bulldozers “within some months.”