🚨 URGENT ACTION ALERT: STOP S5506 🚨

New York State Senate Bill S5506 is designed to move stand-alone Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) out of local control and into the hands of a state siting board known as ORES (Office of Renewable Energy Siting).

If this bill passes, towns like ours will lose the right to decide what gets built in their own communities.

That means projects like the Hurley Avenue lithium-ion battery storage facility would no longer be decided by the Town Board — they would be fast-tracked by the State of New York, even if the community says no.

What S5506 Does

S5506 would:

  • Remove local zoning and planning authority

  • Override Town Boards, Planning Boards, and public hearings

  • Hand siting power to ORES, a state board that prioritizes speed and developer interests

  • Allow massive energy infrastructure to be approved even when towns object

This is not about clean energy.
This is about who controls land use.

Why This Matters in Ulster County

If S5506 becomes law:

  • The Hurley Avenue BESS could be approved without Town of Ulster consent

  • Local emergency services, road capacity, school proximity, wetlands, and neighborhood impacts would be ignored

  • Residents lose their voice, their vote, and their protections

Fast-tracking benefits developers.
Local control protects people.

📞 CALL — DO NOT EMAIL — THESE SENATORS

Only phone calls count.
Emails are easily ignored. Calls create pressure.

If this bill passes, the Hurley Avenue lithium-ion BESS becomes far more likely.
Please call starting tomorrow — and call more than once.

🏛 Your Local Senator, 41st District (Hudson Valley & Catskill Regions) 

Michelle Hinchey
District Office: 845-331-3810
Email: hinchey@nysenate.gov

🧾 Bill Sponsor

Senator Brian Kavanagh
NYC / District Office: 212-298-5565
Email: kavanagh@nysenate.gov

🧾 Co-Sponsors

Senator Patricia Fahy
Office: 518-455-2225
Email: fahy@nysenate.gov

Senator Robert Jackson
Office: 212-544-0173
Email: jackson@nysenate.gov

Senator Rachel May
Office: 315-478-8745
Email: may@nysenate.gov

Senator Christopher Ryan
Albany Office: 518-455-3511
Email: chrisryan@nysenate.gov

🗣 What to Say (Keep It Simple)

Use any of these:

  • “New York is a Home Rule state. Towns — not Albany — should control land use.”

  • “Local governments know their communities best: roads, schools, wetlands, and emergency response.”

  • “ORES should not be allowed to override towns and force dangerous projects into residential areas.”

Final Word

This bill is designed to silence communities and speed up developers.

If S5506 passes, local approval becomes meaningless — and projects like Hurley Avenue can be pushed through no matter what residents or first responders say.

📞 Please call. Call again. And ask others to call.
Local control is on the line.