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Littleton Residents Push Back On Battery Storage Project, Citing Safety Concerns

ENEL Green Power North America

Littleton residents continued to evaluate a proposal to build a battery energy storage system in town at a public hearing Tuesday night. 

The proposed battery storage system would cover about 13 acres in a rural zone in Littleton. At Tuesday’s meeting and in previous hearings, residents raised concerns about fire safety.

“There were a lot of what if questions,” said Jessica Daine, chair of the Littleton Planning Board.

About 100 residents attended the hearing, according to the Caledonian Record.

These systems use rechargeable lithium ion batteries to store electricity from the grid. That energy can be released at peak usage times.

At a hearing in December, Littleton Fire Chief Joe Mercieri pointed to fires that occurred at similar storage sites in Vermont and Arizona. First responders were injured in the Arizona fire, and it has delayed battery storage projects in that state.

The planning board was considering whether to hire an outside consultant with expertise in fire safety, lithium batteries and real estate to review the plan.

But Daine says the board decided against that in a 3-2 vote.

“Some of the board members felt they had enough information to vote on it without waiting for an expert to present to the board,” she said.

Instead, Litus Energy Storage LLC, the Massachusetts-based company proposing the project, will bring in their own experts to answer residents’ questions and concerns on March 24.

I help guide NHPR’s bilingual journalism and our climate/environment journalism in an effort to fill these reporting gaps in New Hampshire. I work with our journalists to tell stories that inform, celebrate and empower Latino/a/x community members in the state through our WhatsApp news service ¿Que Hay de Nuevo, New Hampshire? as well as NHPR’s digital platforms in Spanish and English. For our By Degrees climate coverage, I work with reporters and producers to tell stories that take audience members to the places and people grappling with and responding to climate change, while explaining the forces both driving and limiting New Hampshire’s efforts to respond to this crisis.
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