BACKYARD NY / PROJECT REGISTRY
REC #012 · STATUS: ∅ NEVER PROPOSED
∅Never proposed

Stanford BESS Moratorium

Town of Stanford · Dutchess County · Hudson Valley

A Dutchess County town with no battery proposal on record adopted a moratorium covering all battery storage and wind systems while it drafts zoning.

IMG · GOOGLE PLACES Town of Stanford · Dutchess County
Sector
ENERGY-STORAGE
Location
TOWN OF STANFORD · DUTCHESS COUNTY · HUDSON VALLEY
Process
MORATORIUM BANA local pause (moratorium) on new projects while rules are studied — or an outright ban. · LOCAL ZONINGLocal zoning — town/village land-use rules and special-use permits. Standalone battery storage is sited locally under home rule.
Source confidence
HIGHhigh on existence, instrument, scope, and enactment — the full text of Local Law No. 2 of 2024 was read directly, confirming a 12-month moratorium on BESS and wind systems across all districts (excluding single-family-residential batteries) adopted Nov 14, 2024. Medium-low on current status: a year-long extension was introduced with an Oct 8, 2025 hearing, but no published extension law or minutes confirm the outcome, so the present expiration is uncertain.

Background

Town of Stanford · Dutchess County · Energy storage · Status: never-proposed (precautionary moratorium)

A pause on storage and wind

Stanford has no battery application on record. On November 14, 2024 the Town Board adopted Local Law No. 2 of 2024, a twelve-month moratorium on battery energy storage systems and wind energy conversion systems, applying to all zoning districts and all property and barring site-plan, special-use-permit, variance, and subdivision review — while exempting batteries attached to single-family residences. Supervisor Wendy Burton described the target plainly: "These are giant battery storage facilities." (Local Law 2 of 2024; New Pine Plains Herald)

Chronology

For it

  • No BESS developer or local proponent surfaced in the public record; the county planning referral returned the law 'without comment' and the Planning Board offered 'no comment' [source]
    without comment

Against it

  • Town of Stanford Town Board — adopted Local Law No. 2 of 2024, a twelve-month moratorium on Battery Energy Storage Systems and Wind Energy Conversion Systems, applying to all zoning districts and all property [source]
  • Wendy Burton, Town Supervisor — on the rationale and scope: 'These are giant battery storage facilities' [source]
    These are giant battery storage facilities

Context — not for or against

Analysis

Stanford rounds out the precautionary set, with one wrinkle: it paused wind alongside storage, signaling a town getting ahead of utility-scale energy infrastructure generally rather than reacting to a single technology or project. As with Livingston and Athens, the live question is durability — a year-long extension was introduced in the fall of 2025, but the record does not yet confirm whether it passed, so the moratorium's current force is the case's main open item.

Sources

// every field traceable to a primary source · outcome classified per documented record · BACKYARD NY