A recent op-ed article in the media outlet amNewYork extolled the benefits of lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to the Queens community. As residents of Queens who are being asked to live with BESS next to our homes, we feel compelled to present another perspective.

BESS is a type of technology that uses a group of lithium-ion batteries to store energy. The premise is that the BESS will store solar and wind energy during overnight hours and sell that clean energy to local utilities during hours of peak usage (such as on a hot summer day), thereby easing the pressure on the energy grid during those peak hours.

Many discussions of the issues surrounding BESS present this as a binary choice – either you favor BESS or you do not. However, homeowners feel that there are ways

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