Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer presented and passed a motion to better protect residents and neighborhoods from any possible risks associated with battery storage facilities during the San Diego County Board of Supervisors meeting on Wednesday. 

“Battery storage infrastructure is necessary for us to meet our climate goals, but these facilities must be sited and built in ways that protect the health and safety of our residents,” said Supervisor Lawson-Remer. “After the recent fires, I listened to resident concerns and developed an approach that will establish safeguards to keep residents safe while allowing for climate-friendly battery storage to continue to be built.  

“My amendment makes it mandatory for County Fire to establish minimum residential buffer parameters for all battery storage facilities in unincorporated areas. This approach is consistent with our County’s practice of setting additional residential buffers from other land uses, such as industrial, commercial, and even buffers from canyons and natural habitats. County Fire has already adopted mandatory standards prohibiting warehouse-style facilities and allowing only containerized battery storage, in alignment with best practices to keep communities safe,” Supervisor Lawson-Remer continued. “Under the County fire code this standard will also be applied to battery storage projects that are already in the queue to be constructed.

“Battery storage facilities cannot become the newest ‘not in my backyard’ target. We need these facilities and we need to keep people safe, and we are capable of doing both,” said Supervisor Lawson-Remer.

The amendment Supervisor Lawson-Remer proposed Wednesday was as follows:

“Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to have the County Fire Chief analyze appropriate residential buffer distances based on plume modeling and develop a plan for Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) facilities. Report back to the Board in 45 days with an interim update and return to the Board by December 11th, 2024 with a plan.”

To read the entire original policy about battery storage facilities, click here.