My prior experience with criminal defense matters has taught me something that I initially overlooked when examining the proposed Fraser Battery Energy Storage System in the Town of Hamden, Delaware County, New York.
Criminals.
Whenever there was a snowstorm, my husband and I would start receiving phone calls of police picking up people breaking into seasonal homes and facilities alike, under the cover of bad weather.
While preparing to file my Fraser BESS project lawsuit, I have examined the proposed installation's fire hazards, its location on a forested mountain ridge, the surrounding wetlands, potentially combustible organic soils, winter access problems, inadequate firefighting resources, and the discrepancies between the project's publicly represented energy capacity and its own emergency response plan.
But there is another foreseeable source of danger that has nothing to do with defective batteries, manufacturing errors, or spontaneous thermal runaway.
Copper thieves. Burglars. Vandals.
Anyone familiar with criminal defense practice in rural upstate New York knows that unoccupied properties can and do attract thieves. Seasonal homes are burglarized. Copper piping and electrical wiring are stripped from buildings. Stolen metal is sold to scrapyards.
And now EDF Renewables Development, Inc. and Fraser Storage, LLC propose to install a massive, unmanned industrial facility containing approximately 767.5 megawatt-hours of stored electrical energy on a remote mountain ridge.
It is a huge piece of candy for local criminals calling their names off that mountain ridge.
Before dismissing criminal interference as a hypothetical danger, consider what happened just this summer in neighboring Otsego County.
July 23, 2026: Copper Theft Causes an Electrical Fire in Hartwick
On July 23, 2026, WBNG reporter Madeline L. Adams published an article titled Police Search for Suspects in Copper Wire Theft at Otsego Electric Substation.
According to the New York State Police account reported by Adams, two individuals entered the fenced Otsego Electric Cooperative substation on Kinney Road in Hartwick at approximately 2:30 a.m.
They stole copper wiring.
The theft caused significant damage to electrical equipment, resulting in a fire at the substation.
WCDO Radio reported the same incident on July 23, 2026, explaining that the damage produced sparks and a fire inside the installation.
The State Police sought the public's assistance in identifying the suspects.
This was not an abandoned farmhouse. It was not a seasonal residence. It was an electrical substation, surrounded by a fence.
The fence did not prevent the intrusion.
The intruders did not need to destroy the entire installation. They wanted copper. Their interference with the equipment caused an electrical fire.
That is precisely the category of danger that must be considered when evaluating the proposed Fraser BESS facility.
Hartwick is in Otsego County, immediately neighboring Delaware County.
And this incident occurred on July 23, 2026, while the Fraser project was under consideration.
September–October 2026: Stolen Copper in Delaware County Results in a State Prison Sentence
The Hartwick incident is not isolated from the local criminal landscape.
On September 11, 2026, WBNG reported that Eric Meade of Delhi, Delaware County, pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal possession of stolen property in connection with stolen copper.
According to the subsequent October 22, 2026 WCDO Radio report, the investigation began after Otsego County Crushers contacted the State Police about Meade's repeated visits to exchange copper fittings and wiring for money.
Investigators determined that the copper had been stolen.
On October 20, 2026, Meade was sentenced in Delaware County Court to a prison term of two and one-half to five years, as reported by WCDO.
The significance of this case is not merely that someone possessed stolen copper.
It demonstrates an actual local market for stolen copper materials, with repeated transactions and criminal prosecution in the very county where Fraser BESS is proposed.
January 26, 2022: Copper and Steel Stolen From a Stamford Building
On January 26, 2022, reporter Kathy Whyte published Delaware County Man Accused of Stealing & Selling Metal, describing another Delaware County copper-theft investigation.
According to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office account reported in the article, Jeremiah Clark of Roxbury was accused of stealing copper and steel from a building in the Town of Stamford and selling the materials to Otsego Auto Crusher's scrapyard in Davenport.
Clark was charged with felony falsifying business records and criminal possession of stolen property.
Investigators also alleged that records had been falsified to make it appear that the seller lawfully owned the materials.
The case illustrates the economic incentive behind these crimes.
The thief is interested in the resale value of the metal. The damage inflicted on the property owner is an entirely different consideration.
At an ordinary building, that damage may consist of destroyed plumbing, wiring, walls, and structural components.
At a large electrical installation, interference with equipment may have consequences far beyond the replacement cost of the stolen material.
July 13, 2021: Seasonal-Home Burglaries Across Three Counties
The vulnerability of unoccupied rural properties is also documented.
On July 13, 2021, Kathy Whyte reported for WNBF that New York State Police were investigating burglaries involving seasonal homes across Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego Counties.
Two individuals, Christopher Youngs Jr. of Maryland, New York, and John Clark of Morris, were arrested on felony burglary and stolen-property charges.
State Police reported that the suspects were linked to burglaries in Delaware and Otsego Counties. Investigators believed additional individuals might be involved.
Homeowners were urged to inspect their seasonal properties and sheds. Reported stolen property included firearms, generators, tools, and other valuables.
This investigation demonstrates that remote or intermittently occupied properties in the three-county region have been targets of organized or repeated burglary activity.
An unmanned industrial installation cannot simply be presumed secure because it is located away from population centers.
June 2022: Copper Stolen From a National Grid Substation in Cortland County
The Hartwick fire was not the only reported copper theft involving an electrical substation in upstate New York.
On June 28, 2022, Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice reported that the Cortland County Sheriff's Office was investigating the theft of copper wiring from a National Grid substation on Route 11 in Cortlandville.
The amount of copper stolen was not disclosed.
Again, the target was electrical infrastructure, not an abandoned residence.
November 2025: More Than $20,000 in Copper Equipment Targeted at an Albany County Substation
On November 8, 2025, the Times Union reported that a Schodack man had been charged with multiple felonies following an attempted theft at a National Grid substation in New Scotland, Albany County.
According to the Albany County Sheriff's Office account reported by the newspaper, deputies discovered a hole cut in the perimeter fence and evidence that a storage building had been entered.
Investigators reported finding copper electrical components valued at approximately $20,000, along with sections of underground copper grounding wire that had been cut and removed.
The accused was charged with burglary, criminal mischief, attempted grand larceny, and possession of burglar's tools.
Once again, a fenced electrical installation was targeted for valuable copper components.
And once again, the criminal activity involved damage to the facility itself.
The Mountain Is Remote for Firefighters, Not Necessarily for Criminals
Now return to Fraser BESS.
The proposed installation is located on a forested mountain ridge in the Town of Hamden, with seasonal access roads that present serious problems for emergency vehicles during winter.
But roads impassable to heavy firefighting apparatus are not necessarily impassable to snowmobiles or all-terrain vehicles.
Commercially available drones also make it possible to observe remote properties without physically entering them.
The difficulty of reaching the site with fire engines, water tankers, and specialized equipment does not mean that an individual intent on committing theft or vandalism would face the same obstacles.
There is a fundamental asymmetry.
A criminal needs to reach the equipment. Firefighters need to reach the equipment with sufficient personnel, resources, and specialized apparatus to control the consequences.
The very remoteness that makes Fraser BESS difficult to protect and service could also complicate the detection of and response to unauthorized intrusion.
And the facility is proposed to be unmanned.
The Owner's Representative Is Four Hours Away
The Fraser emergency response arrangements contemplate an owner's representative approximately four hours away by car or air.
Four hours is travel time, not necessarily response time.
Before a representative can intervene, an intrusion must be detected, assessed, and communicated. Personnel must be contacted and dispatched. Weather and access conditions must permit arrival.
Meanwhile, an intruder interfering with electrical equipment may already have caused damage.
A remotely monitored alarm is not a firefighter. A surveillance camera cannot repair damaged equipment. And the presence of an electronic security system does not establish that qualified personnel can intervene before an incident escalates.
What happens if a criminal damages electrical components or protective systems?
What happens if an electrical fault produces sparks or fire?
What happens if the fire spreads beyond the equipment enclosure into the surrounding forest?
What happens if the seasonal access roads are impassable?
These are not questions answered by a statement that the installation will be monitored remotely.
Fraser BESS Is Not an Ordinary Electrical Substation
The December 14, 2025 Fraser emergency response plan identifies 196 Tesla Megapack 2 XL units, each with a stated capacity of 3,916 kWh.
That produces a total of 767,536 kWh, or approximately 767.5 MWh.
This substantially exceeds the 500 MWh and 540 MWh figures previously presented publicly.
The installation is proposed on a forested mountain ridge, in the vicinity of wetlands, potentially combustible organic soils, and terrain that complicates emergency response.
The consequences of criminal interference with such an installation must be assessed in light of those site-specific conditions.
The July 23, 2026 Hartwick incident demonstrates that copper theft can cause electrical equipment to spark and catch fire.
It does not prove that the same incident would produce battery thermal runaway at Fraser. That depends on the equipment affected, the electrical configuration, protective systems, and the ability to isolate faults.
But it does establish that theft-induced electrical fire is a real initiating event, not a speculative invention.
And the consequences of such an event at Fraser require a site-specific assessment.
Did Fraser Storage Evaluate Criminal Interference at All?
This is the question that EDF Renewables Development, Inc., Fraser Storage, LLC, and the Town of Hamden must answer.
Has the developer evaluated the risk of unauthorized intrusion, theft, vandalism, and deliberate equipment damage?
Has it identified which components could be damaged or compromised by criminal interference?
Has it assessed the potential consequences of damage to electrical grounding, cabling, monitoring equipment, and protective systems?
What physical security measures are proposed?
Who responds to an intrusion alarm, and how quickly?
What happens when the access roads are impassable?
Has the developer examined the possibility that an electrical fire originating outside the battery modules could threaten the installation or surrounding vegetation?
And has the December 14, 2025 emergency response plan been reviewed or updated following the July 23, 2026 electrical substation fire in neighboring Otsego County?
These are factual questions requiring documentary answers, not assurances.
A Private Theft Can Produce a Public Disaster
There is a substantial difference between a thief stealing copper piping from an unoccupied farmhouse and a thief interfering with electrical infrastructure at a massive battery energy storage facility.
In the first case, the immediate consequences may be confined to the building and its owner.
In the second, the consequences may extend to surrounding forests, neighboring properties, volunteer firefighters, and public water resources.
The criminal may be interested in the scrap value of copper.
The developer may regard theft primarily as a security or property-loss problem.
But the public has a separate interest in whether criminal interference could initiate an industrial emergency that local responders cannot promptly control.
The July 23, 2026 Hartwick fire should put an end to any suggestion that theft-induced electrical fires are merely theoretical.
Theft at electrical installations has occurred in upstate New York. Copper theft has occurred in Delaware County. Burglaries targeting unattended properties have been investigated across Delaware, Otsego, and Chenango Counties.
And in neighboring Otsego County, copper thieves actually caused a fire inside a fenced electrical substation.
Before Fraser Storage is permitted to install approximately 767.5 MWh of battery capacity on a remote, forested mountain ridge, the public is entitled to a documented explanation of how the developer intends to prevent, detect, and respond to criminal interference.
A mountain is not a security system. A fence is not a guarantee against burglary. An alarm is not a firefighter. And a four-hour journey is not an immediate emergency response.
The residents of Hamden and the surrounding communities should not be expected to bear the consequences of a hazard that the developer has failed to examine.
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