The two battery energy storage facilities in East Hampton Town, jointly owned by NextEra Energy and National Grid, have been temporarily shut down.
The move comes after the town board passed a resolution at Thursday’s meeting to hire Rigano L.L.C., an environmental law firm, and authorized up to $50,000 for a lawsuit against NextEra Energy that would compel it to do the same.
In a statement, Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez took a victory lap.
“Less than 24 hours after the town board unanimously authorized litigation to shut down the East Hampton and Montauk battery storage facilities, NextEra has temporarily shut both facilities down,” she wrote. Those facilities are on Cove Hollow Road in East Hampton and North Shore Road in Montauk.
“This is the action we demanded, and I am pleased that NextEra responded swiftly to my Sept. 29 letter and the town board’s action.”
Gary Morris, the vice president of the East Hampton Storage Center and the Montauk Storage Center, had, as recently as Thursday, been defiant and unmoved by a series of demands made by the supervisor in a string of letters dating back to July 31.
Her most recent letter, dated Sept. 30, had asked that the facilities cease operations by Friday unless it removed Novec 1230, a chemical that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has blamed for contaminating nearby drinking water wells after its use in a May 2023 fire at the 3 Cove Hollow Road energy storage center.
“The town’s September 29, 2026, letter identifies no basis for its request that the facilities cease operations by October 2, 2026, and we are aware of none,” wrote Mr. Morris, in an Oct. 1 response to the supervisor, adding that he intended to continue operations there.
Newsday reported that Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine had also been negotiating with NextEra, apparently threatening a county lawsuit, before the energy supplier decided to change course and suspend operations while it manages the Novec 1230.
East Hampton Village Mayor Jerry Larsen had also been calling for the facilities to be shut.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
