Methodology

Backyard NY documents Hudson Valley development and infrastructure projects — primarily battery energy storage (BESS) — and what happens to them. This page explains how each project is classified and sourced, so the labels on every detail page mean the same thing from one case to the next.

Sourcing & neutrality

The site aims to read even-handed; the point of view lives in what is documented and how carefully, not in editorializing. Support and opposition are presented with equal weight.

• Every claim is cited. Each supporter and opponent carries a source link; an entry with no source is shown only as an explicitly-marked absence.
• Actors only in "For it" / "Against it." Those lists hold people, bodies, companies, and organized groups that have taken a position — never a policy or target (see Context, below).
• Primary sources preferred. Official records — board resolutions, filings, agency documents — outrank secondary coverage. Industry-funded sources are cited narrowly, for specific facts, never for framing.

Outcome

The honest scorecard — where a project actually ended up:

• ✓Delivered Built and operating, or fully approved and under construction toward operation.
• ✓Delivered (shrunk) Built or approved, but materially smaller than originally proposed.
• ◐In progress Actively moving through review or permitting; the outcome is not yet decided (often contested).
• ⏸Stalled Paused or obstructed without a final decision — under a moratorium, in litigation, or dormant.
• ✕Killed Formally rejected, banned, or withdrawn with no current path forward.
• ∅Never proposed Considered or floated but never formally proposed; included only as context.

Source confidence

How well-sourced a case's facts are (labeled Source confidence on the detail page, with the specifics in a tooltip). The meter fills from one to four segments:

• HIGH Every material fact — capacity, site, ownership, official actions, named positions — is confirmed against a primary source (a government record or official filing) or corroborated by multiple independent reports. Nothing material outstanding.
• MEDIUM-HIGH The core facts are sourced to credible local or trade press and/or a primary record, with one or two secondary details still to confirm against primary sources.
• MEDIUM The narrative is supported by press reporting, but key specifics (exact dates, vote text, capacity) still need primary-source confirmation.
• LOW Early or thinly sourced — a single report or preliminary information. Treat as provisional.

Process

The legal or procedural lever(s) that shaped the outcome (labeled Process on the detail page; each value has a tooltip). The controlled vocabulary:

• SEQRA State Environmental Quality Review Act — New York's environmental review process. A "positive declaration" triggers a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before any approval.
• ARTICLE 78 Article 78 — a New York court proceeding used to challenge a government body's decision or approval.
• LOCAL ZONING Local zoning — town/village land-use rules and special-use permits. Standalone battery storage is sited locally under home rule.
• MORATORIUM BAN A local pause (moratorium) on new projects while rules are studied — or an outright ban.
• PILOT IDA PILOT / IDA — a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement granted through an Industrial Development Agency.
• REFERENDUM Referendum — a public vote on the project or a related local measure.
• FINANCING Financing — the project's funding, contract, or incentive status shaped the outcome.
• STATE OVERRIDE State override — siting decided or preempted at the state level (e.g. ORES under Executive Law §94-c) rather than by the town.
• WITHDRAWN Withdrawn — the developer pulled the proposal.
• OTHER Other mechanism — see the project narrative.

For it · Against it · Context

For it and Against it list the actors on each side, with sources. Context is a separate, neutral strip for backdrop that is not a position — statewide policy targets, market conditions — so a policy is never miscast as a project's supporter or opponent.

Capacity

Battery projects are described by power (megawatts, MW — how much it can deliver at once) and energy (megawatt-hours, MWh — how much it stores). These are not the same number: a 250 MW / 1,000 MWh project is a 4-hour battery. There is no single industry standard for labeling a project "small," "medium," or "large," so the site does not yet assign size bands; that convention is still being worked out.

Freshness

These are live fights. Where a fact can change, the case carries an "as of" date so its age is visible. A status with an old date may simply not have changed — or may need re-checking.

A living document

Cases are maintained on an ongoing basis, including with agent-assisted research. This methodology is the shared rulebook that keeps that work consistent over time.