Council Seeks Fire Safety Briefing on Proposed Battery Storage Facility

By Barbara Taormina

The Revere City Council unanimously supported a motion presented by Councillor-at-Large Michelle Kelley at this week’s meeting calling on Fire Chief James Cullen and Captain Kevin O’Hara to appear before the City Council to provide a public safety briefing regarding the proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility on Muzzey Street.

“This is not a proposal the City Council will vote on,” said Kelley, explaining that the systems are protected under the Dover Amendment, a state zoning law that limits how cities and towns can use zoning to control certain land uses.

The plan for Muzzey Street is an industrial-sized facility that will house dozens of lithium-ion batteries that store electricity to be used to support the grid. The system stores power from the grid and renewable energy sources and discharges that power during peak demand.

“This motion is not about taking a position on the project,” said Kelley. “It’s about assuring public safety.”

According to state officials, battery energy storage systems are an emerging technology that will decrease utility bills, make the grid more reliable and enable the region to use renewable energy more efficiently. But the systems are meeting increasing opposition from residents who don’t want the facilities in their communities.

During the public comment segment of the council meeting, Beach Street resident Corey O’Hara expressed her opposition to the project. “I want to get this out, so the public knows what’s going on… At this point, I don’t think anybody in the public knows about this project,” said O’Hara.

She went on to say that the industrial-sized facility will have 57 batteries and if there were a fire, it would create toxic fumes. “This project deserves transparency. We deserve better,” O’Hara told the council.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, BESS fires create problems for first responders due to the difficulty of extinguishing lithium-ion battery fires. The EPA also warns there are potential health impacts from emissions and a need to properly dispose of contaminated burned batteries. However, the EPA also notes that despite some high-profile incidents, improvements in BESS quality and design have led to a decrease in the number of failure incidents.

The Electric Power Research Institute tracks information on BESS fires and incidents. Since it was launched, the EPRI has documented numerous incidents, particularly following high-profile fires in South Korea and the United States. A 2024 fire at the Gateway Energy Storage Facility in San Diego, California, involved 15,000 lithium-ion batteries and saw flare-ups for several days. In Chandler, Arizona, a containerized unit burned for more than 10 days, requiring continual cooling. Warwick, New York, saw two days of fire from batteries, which reports suggested were affected by the weather. The EPRI also noted that from 2018 to 2023 there was a 97percent drop in BESS failure rates.

“When this came to light, all the questions I got were about fires, fire safety, hazardous material,” said Ward 4 Councillor Paul Argenzio, who commended the motion.

Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro said he will be happy to hear from the fire department about the proposed facility. He said Flatiron Energy, the company that will develop the facility, is planning a full presentation for the council. “We’ll do our part to bring transparency to this,” said Cogliandro.

Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri said he spoke with the attorney for Flatiron Energy. Silvestri said the company will provide all the necessary training and equipment the Revere Fire Department would need to suppress a fire at the facility. Silvestri said he also learned that the batteries would be housed in self-contained units to prevent any spread of fire.

Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya focused on the motion and public safety. “We owe it to residents to ensure every precaution is in place,” she said.

The council was concerned about more than BESS safety and technology. City Council President Anthony Zambuto seemed undecided about which is more disagreeable, lithium-ion batteries or the Dover Amendment.

“We’ve seen this more and more, where decisions are driven at the state level and the role of local government is more limited than people expect,” said Kelley, referring to the amendment.

The amendment emerged from a 1951 case involving the Town of Dover, which was using zoning bylaws to keep religious schools out of residential neighborhoods. The Legislature stepped in and created laws that protect religious, educational and agricultural land uses from zoning regulations.

Silvestri said he wanted to see how the BESS project was protected under a law meant to shield religious, educational and agricultural uses. But over time the Legislature has expanded the Dover Amendment to include projects in sync with the state’s agenda and policies. Solar energy land uses are now protected under the Dover Amendment.

“The Dover Amendment is not settled law as of yet,” said Kelley, who added that legislation coming in June or July will require BESS projects to go before a state siting board.

The council voted to hold a public hearing with Fire Department officials.