About Chloe Bennett

Chloe Bennett is a climate change reporter based in Lake Placid, NY. Originally from North Texas, Chloe has always been drawn to the natural world. In 2022, she graduated from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY where she focused on environmental reporting and audio production. She grew a deep appreciation for the Adirondack Park while interning for the Explorer in the summer of 2022.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Long time RLer says

    The entire proposed battery energy storage plan is absurd. It will cost $50,000,000 and serve at very most 6000 people (in mid-summer) and maybe 1000 in winter. And in midsummer the energy would last for only a few hours. How is this a feasible project?

    The location selected violates many of their (Nat Grid/REV) own requirements for a site. It is in a tiny village, a forested area, close to houses and a Girls Summer Camp. Drainage from a site disaster would be into wetlands and then into Raquette Lake, a pristine body that drains through the Raquette River all the way to the St Lawrence River. A fire or other problem could block the one road to many homes and the Camp, leaving no egress for anyone.

    The recent meeting in Raquette Lake showed two things, (1) Nat Grid and Rev had absolutely no idea what this area is like (distance to hospital, tiny fire departments and EMS personnel) and (2) the overwhelming majority of Raquette Lakers want no part of it. They are self sufficient and happy to stay that way.

    The developers say that a fire is “low percentage” and disaster planning will be done after the construction. NO! No matter what they say, few people believe that lithium batteries are safe. There is too much evidence to the contrary

    Put the lithium batteries somewhere where they are wanted and needed. There is no great need, or any desire for, the battery farm or the microgrid in Raquette Lake. Let the people’s voice be heard.

  2. Eric Garrison says

    If the opponents to this plan their own study and vow to fight it to the end are they willing to listen if their study finds less impact then they imagine or is this a study intended to show the worse.

    • Long time RLer says

      If you look further you will find that a huge amount of research has been done by the people of Raquette Lake and it leads us to believe that this project poses a potential threat to the area and its environment, and its benefits are too small to justify it. If anyone wants these lithium batteries in their vicinity, they should speak up. So far, nobody has.

  3. MITCH EDELSTEIN says

    “Should National Grid receive all the approvals for building the new substation… The old substation would then be removed. ”

    The removal of the old sub-station now on the corner of the Raquette Lake UF School, immediately adjacent to the ballfield, would be a wonderful improvement for Raquette Lake. Currently the first thing you see when turning into Raquette Lake from the south is that unsightly electrical sub-station. Remove the eyesore.

  4. Cristine Meixner says

    $50M? It would be cheaper and less risky to buy every property owner in Raquette Lake a whole house generator and hook it up. It can be done for less than $10,000 each so $50M would buy more than 5,000 generators ready to go. How many would actually be needed? 63 year-round residents plus the summer population can’t possibly come close to 5,000.

  5. Sa Clarkson says

    Thank you for your informative article. I am curious; at a price tag of $50 million, what would it cost to put solar panels on residents and businesses homes in the Raquette lake area? Would that be a suitable back up for when the power goes out? I don’t know a lot about it but it seems like a lot of money to support a smallish population.

    • Mary Blanchard says

      Many of us in Raquette Lake have backup generators. We who live here year ’round are well equipped to deal with power outages and they are only a minor inconvenience.
      This is an ill-conceived plan and ridiculous cost for so little benefit. The danger of fire, although they claim little danger, at even one of these batteries would be catastrophic and not just for the immediate area.
      Please read the comments above from the Long time Raquette Laker.
      This project does not belong in the Adirondacks.
      Mary Blanchard
      Raquette Lake

  6. Long time RLer says

    Thank you. Nearly everyone in Raquette Lake has already availed themselves of a back up system if they felt if necessary, so the cost for that would be minimal. RLers do not expect, want, or need this microgrid. If Inlet wants it, put it there.

  7. Long time RLer says

    Thank you. Nearly everyone in Raquette Lake has already availed themselves of a back up system if they felt if necessary, so the cost for that would be minimal.

  8. upstater says

    Are there some sort of federal government incentives or payments for this project? $50M is a huge number; does this capital expenditure get incorporated into the National Grid rate base and get charged to consumers with the typical 11% ROI?

    I’m all in favor of renewables and have residential PV for my house. But the approach of the Cuomo’s energy policy (which this is likely a part) has been to enrich private equity “investments” in utility scale PV or transmission toll roads like the Champlain Hudson Power Express and cut out NYPA and residential solar.

  9. Long Time RLer says

    This has nothing to do with “renewables”. The battery farm would be kept charged and heated in winter by Nat Grid ‘s power line. If it was storing energy from a renewal source it would be SLIGHTLY less objectionable. That what battery farms are supposed to be for.

    However this is not the place to put lithium batteries- for any reason.

    • Rob says

      So if this was storing power from a renewable it would be “slightly” less objectionable. You’re good with that because it is “green”. Well let’s scrap the battery farm and throw up some wind farms then. Already a couple proposed for the park.
      Better make sure the Prius is charged before you head out this morning

  10. Paul says

    On the signs it says “battery farm”. That isn’t accurate. The footprint doesn’t really come close to anything that would be described as a “farm”. Why can’t we be honest in the debate?

  11. LeRoy Hogan says

    I wonder if this thing creates a whole less noise and air pollution than backup generators during power failures.

  12. Paul says

    It matters because the truth is it isn’t a “farm”, and maybe the discussion should be honest instead of misleading

  13. Jim Blanchard says

    National Grid along with irresponsible State administration banning diesel power generation, is trying to force us to accept the installation of a lithium battery installation in our small community of Raquette Lake. Anyone wanting this can put it in their own back yard!! This warrants an industrial location only, not in the middle of a wooded area near one of our pristine ADK lakes and watersheds in the Adirondack Park, where we are supposed to have safeguards from our Adirondack Park Agency!
    Presently, NY State is experiencing widespread air pollution, haze and smoke from fires in Canada. This is a very dry Spring and just imagine the Park on fire! NY State uses burn bans during these times to help prevent such occurrences. There are well documented risks associated with any installation of this kind. We do not want and should not be required to have this risk here, no matter how small those companies that that have self-serving interest of profit, minimize the dangers!!
    Now the majority of residents are against this project have to spend our time and efforts and a good deal of frustration to stop it from happening. This is just a pilot project for many more of its kind. Lithium batteries are not ‘Green’ by any measure, and certainly not appropriate in a small, wooded community in the Adirondack Park.
    Again…..No matter how much supporters minimize the risk, it is simply not worth it here. This ill-conceived project should not have gotten this far without a proper outreach to the residents, long before this. Primarily represented as backup power, but actually a profit maker, the cost of which ultimately will likely be borne by the consumers. It should not be forced on a community that does not want it.

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