A Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) facility will bring direct harm to residents of Hurley and Ulster County, NY - unless we stop it.

BESS Facility Proposal

The Alcazar Energy Storage Project is a proposed industrial-scale lithium-ion battery facility at 430 Hurley Avenue in the Town of Ulster, NY, covering roughly 15 acres of privately-owned land. At 250 megawatts (MW), it would be about ten times larger than the current biggest battery storage project in New York, making it the largest of its kind in the state. This project is being advanced by Alcazar ESS, LLC, a subsidiary of Terra-Gen, LLC. Terra-Gen is now 50% owned by Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company, which is wholly owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates. Masdar is a global energy conglomerate with deep financial resources and a track record of aggressively expanding its energy footprint around the world.

While marketed as a clean energy solution, the sheer scale of this project would bring unprecedented industrial infrastructure into a residential community. Its connection to a foreign government-owned corporation raises serious questions about accountability, transparency, and whose interests will truly be served. At 250 MW, the facility would store an enormous amount of energy in lithium-ion batteries, a technology known to carry fire, explosion, and toxic release risks when failures occur. Residents deserve to know the full scope of the risks, the long-term environmental impacts, and whether the benefits claimed by the developers outweigh the potential costs to the community.

Why Hurley? Why Ulster County?

The proposed battery facility would connect directly to the Central Hudson Gas & Electric (CHGE) 345-kilovolt Hurley Substation, one of the largest and most critical electrical substations in Ulster County and the Hudson Valley. This location is not a coincidence. It was chosen because it gives developers direct access to a major power hub.

New York State, through the Public Service Commission (PSC) and NYSERDA, has set a goal of adding 3,000 megawatts (MW) of large-scale battery storage across the state. Projects like this one are being pushed forward under that plan. The Alcazar project will compete for state funding through NYSERDA’s official bidding process, with the first round of proposals scheduled for the summer of 2025. If selected, construction could be completed and the facility could be operational as early as the summer of 2028.

For more detailed information about the project, please refer to "Alcazar Energy Storage System" under public information on https://www.townofulster.ny.gov/.

A single-family residence will be located approximately 160 feet from the Project site boundary (and approximately 400 ft from the closest proposed BESS container). There is another OM-zoned parcel with a single-family residence located to the North of the Property across Hurley Avenue and approximately 80 feet from the Project site boundary (300 feet from the closest proposed BESS container)."

[Some large-scale projects, such as those covered by California Assembly Bill (AB) 303 (if enacted as drafted), propose to prohibit large BESS facilities (200 MWh or more) within 3,200 feet of sensitive receptors like residences. However, these are still under legislative consideration.]

Project Timeline