Engineer reports battery‑storage hot commissioning; council presses vendor performance timeline

Engineer Mike Mlullen told the council that hot commissioning of the borough’s battery‑storage system commenced that morning and that testing and ramp-up would continue over the coming weeks. He said the system was energized and crews were performing transformer and testing procedures.

Council members pressed the engineer about whether the vendor will meet a performance expectation to capture the five hottest days of the year — a metric discussed as important to achieving the projected first-year savings — and what remedies would exist if the vendor fails to meet that performance. The engineer said the vendor believes it can still capture enough hot days during July, August and early September and that contract remedies can be pursued through legal review if necessary. Council members noted the borough’s long-term payment obligations tied to the project and asked staff to monitor vendor performance closely.