Battery Energy Storage System in Tarrytown Approved

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October 9, 2025

By Rick Pezzullo—

A Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) that was vehemently opposed by local fire officials was recently approved by the Tarrytown Planning Board.

The Planning Board’s Sept. 25 blessing of the project at 120 White Plains Road followed the Village Board of Trustees’ unanimous vote on July 21 for a zoning law change to allow Battery Energy Storage Systems.

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At that July meeting, Clean Energy Action Coalition (CEAC) Program Director Ron Kamen said the Catalyze Tarrytown project and zoning law amendment would help secure clean energy for Tarrytown’s residents and businesses.

“It helps reduce energy costs, improves grid reliability and resilience, and makes the village a leader in our clean energy future,” Kamen said. “Let us work together to bring safe, sustainable, cost-effective energy solutions to our community and be part of the solution.”

During several public hearings in June, Tarrytown Fire Chiefs Raymond Tuohy and Patrick Derivan urged the Board of Trustees not to amend the village’s Zoning Code that allowed Catalyze to move forward with its Tesla megapack energy storage system.

“This is going to be an environmental nightmare. There’s a lot of unknowns with this,” Derivan said. “There’s more hazards than what will be benefits to the village. It’s bad stuff. To put it in that area of town is not the right thing to do.”

Two BESS installations are already up and running in Hawthorne and Yorktown Heights, while others are proposed in Valhalla, Chappaqua (two) and Mount Vernon.

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