The company that had hoped to build a battery energy storage system in eastern Henderson County has pulled its plans.
Yellowthroat Energy Storage LLC has decided not to pursue a BESS on a 35-acre plot of land on Toy-Anthoston Road.
Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider confirmed Monday that Yellowthroat has stopped pursuing the project. He said he received a call from a Yellowthroat representative last week who told him that it decided to stop the project after the Midcontinent Independent System Operator was going to impose too much costs on upgrading the infrastructure on the local grid.
MISO is the electric grid operator for the central United States and Manitoba.
Airline Road resident Deirdre McConathy, whose farm abut the 35-acre plot, said she was “slackjawed” when she received an email Friday from Schneider informing her of the company’s plans.
McConathy has been fighting BESS in the county since before the Henderson County Fiscal Court approved a BESS ordinance in the summer of 2024.
Most recently, she submitted a letter to the planning commission that requested a two-year moratorium on BESS in the county in light of two-year moratoriums currently in place on solar energy systems and wind energy conversion systems.
Members of the planning commission told her that she should bring her request to the fiscal court since it’s the accepted policy of the planning commission to have ordinance changes originate in the particular government body that will ultimately approve or deny it, which in this case is fiscal court.
McConathy subsequently set up a Dec. 2 meeting with Schneider, County Attorney Steve Gold and her own lawyer, Laureen White of Anderson, Ind.
In the meeting, they discussed the possibility of a moratorium on BESS and changes to the BESS ordinance.
After the meeting, Schneider said there’s a possibility for a BESS moratorium. In a brief interview with the Hendersonian Monday he said—even though Yellowthroat won’t pursue a BESS—there’s still a possibility for a moratorium. But if that did come about, he said it most likely won’t be two years long and probably less.
McConathy said she was “relieved” that Yellowthroat halted the project but said that company’s departure raises questions about what could happen if other companies pursue a BESS in the county.
She said she was still concerned about the 35-acre plot on which Yellowthroat had planned to build a BESS and an electric substation owned by Big Rivers that is near her house.
She believes the county still needs to impose a BESS moratorium while also working to revise the current BESS ordinance.
The Hendersonian on Monday left messages with two officials associated with Yellowthroat but did not receive a callback before this story was posted Tuesday afternoon.
A Yellowthroat representative sent an email message Tuesday evening with a statement from the Yellowthroat Energy Storage team.
“After careful consideration of many factors that go into successful infrastructure development, the Yellowthroat Energy Storage Project will not be moving forward at this time,” it said. “The project team thanks the people of Henderson County, who we have worked with during the project’s early development.”
