County supervisors act on battery systems
The county approves several regulations for battery storage systems including analyzing buffer zones for projects near residences
COUNTY — Emotions ran high over the future regulations and standards regarding battery energy storage systems during Wednesday’s San Diego County Board of Supervisors.
After hours of public speakers and discussion among the board, the supervisors voted, 4-1, to exempt battery projects from the California Environmental Quality Act; applications must include technical studies and have those review by a county fire protection engineer; and the board will receive an update on the review of current projects, actions taken from the BESS fire in Escondido last week and work with current projects to align those with new development standards.
Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer also included having Chief Administration Officer Ebony Shelton and her team analyze buffer distances from residences and report back to the board in 45 days. Lawson-Remer said the goal is to have those buffers enacted by Dec. 11.
Lawson-Remer, along with the board, said they will also update the fire code as soon as possible to include the new measures. This way, she said, it will be a quicker timeline than drafting an ordinance, which would take months or longer.
Supervisor Jim Desmond, who voted no, said he was fine with the options put forward but wanted the board to take a pause with a 45-moratorium, which would prohibit non-containerized BESS projects and projects inconsistent with the National Fire Protection Association 855 standard.
However, those with interests in BESS said any moratorium would be detrimental to the current and future pipeline to construction and meeting energy goals.
“It is vital to protect the health and safety of our residents,” Lawson-Remer added. “Recent fires at battery facilities have caused folks some concerns. (But) we have an urgent climate crisis knocking at our doorstep. We have to be serious and move toward green energy infrastructure. Battery storage essential to our strategy.”
Hundreds of residents and special interests submitted comments or spoke at the supervisors’ meeting. Residents of Eden Valley, Harmony Grove and others in or near Escondido railed against the proposed Seguro Battery Energy Storage System calling for the county hit pause and develop regulations, standards and zoning requirements for such projects.
The Seguro project proposes 320 megawatts of storage and 1,280 megawatts per hour of capacity on a former horse ranch and would share a property line with at least seven homes. Residents said they aren’t against battery storage, but they should be nowhere near homes, schools and hospitals due to risk of fire, toxic fumes, thus jeopardizing their health and safety.
However, JP Theberge, chair of the Harmony Grove and Elfin Forest Town Council, said while he and other residents were disappointed at the options presented by county staff, Lawson-Remer’s addition of buffer zones was welcomed and needed.
Theberge, along with Joe Rowley, the former vice president of project development with Sempra U.S. Gas & Power who developed battery sites, created a website, Stop Seguro, to break down the complexities of battery storage.
“After hearing everyone speak, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer acknowledged our concerns and put a 6th recommendation onto the screen that directly addressed the community concerns: it specifically requested that County staff create a ‘residential buffer distance’ based on studies and to come back on Dec. 11,” he explained. “To boot, it applied retroactively to existing project in progress like Seguro, which was not expected. We are encouraged by this decision and it shows that community action does make a difference. Of course, we will be looking forward to seeing what the county brings forth in December, but it feels like a win to us.”
The issue exploded last week when a battery system in Escondido — operated by San Diego Gas & Electric and built by AES — caught fire and chaos ensued. The city issued evacuation orders to nearby residents and businesses, and some residents reported health impacts such as headaches, nausea and others, while some speakers at the meeting said no one was impacted.
Additionally, the Gateway Energy Storage facility in Otay Mesa was on fire for 17 days and the Valley Center Energy Storage project caught fire in 2020 and 2023, according to Dahvia Lynch, the county’ director of planning and development services.
Theberge and others said the frequency of thermal runaway fires is prevalent with storage systems, which why residential areas make little sense.
However, others said the advancement in technology and fire systems are much better. Also, Bonine and others, said the mandatory inclusion of technical studies covering fire and safety requirements is welcomed.
“The Board of Supervisors made the right decision today,” said Corinne Lytle Bonine, AES permitting director for Seguro.” The decision showed that we don’t have to choose between safe neighborhoods and clean air. We can have both. The supervisors found a way to raise safety standards for all battery energy storage developers without shutting down the pipeline of energy storage projects that are critical to meeting our climate goals. AES will meet or exceed all required safety standards on any project we build in San Diego County.”
Competing interests
Along with at least five AES representatives, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, San Diego Community Power, environmental groups such as Climate Action Campaign, and residents spoke in favor of the Seguro and other battery projects.
They noted there are 30 battery projects in operation in the county and they are critical to meet the county’s and state’s climate goals. Several speakers also said the systems are important to capture electricity generated from solar and wind, although several opposing systems in residential areas said those are false claims as there are no direct transmission or distribution lines going into most, if not all, of those systems.
However, Theberge and others in opposition to the Seguro project, along with Desmond, noted 27 of the 30 current systems were approved by the California Public Utilities Commission and bypassed the county. He said the average size is 17MW and SDG&E owns 22 systems at susbtations.
Theberge said all of SDG&E’s battery systems combined, minus the 70MW system in Fallbrook, provides less energy than the Seguro project.
“Seguro would be 320MW which is 20 times larger than the average SDG&E facility,” he added. “Size matters because the larger the facility, the higher the likelihood of a thermal runaway fire event. AES is gaslighting people by trying to equate a 10MW project to a 320 MW project.”
Another aspect is a change in the industry from lithium-ion batteries, used at other facilities, fire suppression systems and pivoting to containers rather than warehouses, like the Gateway Energy Storage facility in Otay Mesa.
Jim Whalen, who has a current application for a battery system, said projects in the backcountry use lithium phosphate as the batteries’ chemical makeup, which make it safer. He said fire codes are reactive and catch up with problems and fire protocols are continuously developing.
“Everything important in our lives is not necessarily safe,” he added. “Batteries kept our area from having a mass blackout last weekend. We need to internalize the risks with renewable energy and make sure it works with our needs.”
The supervisors’ decision may also impact their state-mandated climate goals and Climate Action Plan. The state has approved goals of a 100% clean energy grid and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 85%, air pollution by 71%, oil demand by 94%, and all fossil fuels by 86% to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2045, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The county also has its own CAP, which commits to 100% renewable energy by 2045.
Most of the speakers agreed with the county’s push to meet its goals, but how to get there is the point of contention. Residents said they don’t want those facilities in residential areas, so they should be in industrial or utility-designated zones, which is better for safety.
Bonine and others, though, stressed the speed of the industry in pivoting to container to isolate groups of batteries and new and improved fire suppression systems at the modular level. A module is about the size of a VCR or DVD player.
“The supervisors also made clear that any further restrictions on battery energy storage systems need to be backed up by scientific data,” Bonine explained. “We are looking forward to seeing the results of the technical analysis that the county fire department has commissioned. This kind of independent analysis is critical to providing an understanding of risks that is based on facts.”
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