The power went out on a blustery March day in St. Armand, an Essex County town northeast of Saranac Lake. Utility crews got to work and, in some areas, the lights were back on within a couple of hours. Other parts of town spent closer to a full day in the dark.
Supervisor Davina Thurston wondered if a battery energy storage system might have helped keep electricity running. She also wondered if battery storage would help reduce constituents’ skyrocketing electricity bills.
But large battery fires were also on her mind. Although such fires are rare, they have happened in New York. Two took place in 2023, in Jefferson and Orange counties, and a third in December 2025 in Orange County…