The Trump administration on Monday released the first federal safety guidance for battery energy storage systems (BESS), citing safety concerns as several of the green energy facilities have caught fire in recent years.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin addressed BESS concerns as he announced the first federal safety guidance for the technology from Long Island, New York, where residents and officials have been protesting over an impending BESS facility. While the Trump administration hasn’t pushed for a build out of BESS like former President Joe Biden, several blue states — including New York — as well as green energy advocates touted the technology as a key tool to eventually phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the green energy transition.
“Many New Yorkers, especially in New York City and on Long Island, have made their voices clear – they do not want Battery Energy Storage Systems built in their neighborhoods. Residents are looking across the country where dangerous lithium battery fires at BESS facilities have caused widespread damage, and they are concerned with New York’s partisan push to fill yet another delusional ‘green’ goal, which the state itself admits it cannot meet,” Zeldin said. “The Trump EPA will always listen to the American people. We support local communities to have a say on whether or not they would like BESS facilities to be built in their neighborhoods. At the very least, we want to provide all of the information we know on BESS to utilities, first responders, permitting bodies and any member of the public who wants to get better educated on this critical issue.”
FINAL Task 2_ OLEM BESS Document_ 7-16-2025_508 Compliant by audreystreb
The agency’s new safety guidance includes installation and incident response considerations as well as resources for fire planning and response at BESS sites. Battery energy storage systems can be used to store electricity generated by solar panels or wind turbines for later use, according to the National Grid Group. Several battery energy storage systems have caught fire in recent years, with researchers and EPA officials flagging that first responders and the surrounding environment were exposed to toxic conditions after lithium-ion batteries erupted into flames.
Cleaning up lithium-ion batteries after the Los Angeles and Maui wildfires proved to be a challenge, as the batteries could spontaneously reignite or explode even after fires were extinguished, according to the EPA. Notably, a six-year audit by Clean Energy Associates (CEA) found that more than a quarter of surveyed battery storage systems had issues with fire detection and suppression, including faulty smoke and temperature sensors, according to the company’s 2024 report.
New York has stringent green energy transition targets and is mandating the build out of battery storage systems, though some state officials have lately acknowledged that they may not be able to accomplish their green energy targets on the current timeline. Locals have been raising safety concerns over the pending Hauppauge facility on Long Island, worrying that toxins may contaminate the environment and drinking water if it were to catch fire.
“The state that banned the safe extraction of natural gas, gas hook-ups on new construction, and gas stoves, while aiming to end the sale of gas-powered vehicles, continues to put the safety and well-being of New Yorkers second to their climate change agenda,” Zeldin said.
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