Some county leaders are considering a moratorium on lithium-battery storage facilities after a couple of fires broken out at two sites in the county, most recently Escondido on Thursday, prompting evacuations of residents and businesses.
Nancy Jennings lives in Escondido, just a few miles from the fire. She was forced out of her home Thursday due to a power outage. She said an SDG&E representative told her extreme heat caused the power to go out.
“When I had called SDG&E and spoke to their representative, she had checked with her people there, and what they told her was that the fire had damaged SDG&E's equipment and that was why the outage and why it took so long to repair — because it was over 12 hours,” Jennings said.
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SDG&E has not confirmed a connection between the fire and the power outage at Jenning's home.
Jennings is not a normal utility customer — in fact, Jennings relies on power for survival.
“Appliances? Who cares? I can do without," Jennings said. "I can't do without my oxygen."
Jennings said that, even before the fire broke out, she and many of her neighbors opposed the battery facilities in their community.
“It's just too dangerous,” Jennings said.
County Supervisor Jim Desmond for District 5 expressed a similar sentiment.
“We’re getting way too many fires from these types of battery storage facilities, and we need to get some more, unfortunately, some more regulations in place to make sure they’re safe,” Desmond said.
On Wednesday, the county board of supervisors is going to consider guidelines and a potential moratorium on the battery energy storage facilities.
Desmond said the moratorium would only apply to battery systems that need county permits. He said that, of the nearly 50 such sites across San Diego County, about 80% don’t require county permitting because they get approval through the California Public Utilities Commission.
“I don’t think a moratorium is required, but I do recommend that communities, like Poway, due to the level of detail that Poway did,” Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy said.
Arevon Energy is a company that owns six operating battery storage facilities and has additional sites in development, including one in Poway.
“We’ve got state-of-the-art technology, a perfect track record on safety on our energy storage projects,” Smith said.
Smith said battery storage facilities build grid stability, reduce brownouts and blackouts, and add renewable energy to the grid.
However, Desmond said, more regulations should be considered to ensure the safety of the community.
“We have to put some sort of safeguards in place to where any new ones have to have the latest and greatest technology for fire suppression, fire detection, and we have to make sure that those work,” Desmond said.
Another energy storage project has been proposed right around the corner from Jenning's home.
“They need to figure out a better solution," Jennings said. "It does not belong in this valley or anywhere near residences."
In a statement to NBC 7, SDG&E said in part, “Over the coming weeks, the Escondido Fire Department and SDG&E will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire."
Former engineer and battery storage facility developer Joe Rowley said location is key.
“What's needed here, and I think it's needed urgently, is a moratorium on projects that are located near homes, schools and hospitals,” Rowley said.
That said, Rowley added that a pause would slow the momentum San Diego is building toward using 100% green energy by 2045.
Beyond that, the power grid leans on battery storage.
“These projects are necessary in order to move solar and solar energy from the daytime to the evening and nighttime, and without batteries, that can't be done,” Rowley said.
NBC 7 also received the following statement from SDG&E:
"Our energy storage systems are an essential part of a reliable and resilient grid. SDG&E will be conducting a thorough investigation of the event to determine the cause of the incident. Ensuring public and employee safety is our top priority in energy storage operations."
San Diego County supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer sent NBC 7 the following statement on Monday afternoon:
“We are entering new territory with the construction of these battery storage facilities, and we need to move forward in a way that protects our communities while meeting our climate goals. I’m eager for county staff to come back with their recommendations.”
