With Colorado-based Flatiron Energy withdrawing its widely unpopular proposal for an enormous battery energy storage facility in New Milford, town officials and environmentalists are relieved — for now. Flatiron late last week told attorneys for the town that it was no longer pursuing its plan for Treebeard, its name for a 140-megawatt lithium-ion battery storage facility to be built on 10 acres near the West Aspetuck River. But the company still has an option on the land, and last winter said it was also exploring other potential sites in New Milford. So far, it has not advised the town on whether it’s leaving the area altogether, seeking a nearby location instead, or simply postponing its campaign for the original proposal. “Since January the only communication they gave the town is through their legal representation — their attorneys talking with the town attorney,” Mayor Pete Bass said Tuesday. “They told us they’re not moving forward on that property. We know that property is still under option, but we haven’t heard more than that.”
A CT town appears to have dodged an enormous, unwanted battery farm. At least temporarily.
