Fire Panic: Blazes May Lead to Bans on Batteries Key to Renewable Energy Commitments

Editor’s note: Minutes after this story posted, a 30-megawatt SDG&E battery storage facility on Enterprise Street in Escondido caught fire. The city of Escondido issued a mandatory evacuation order for the surrounding businesses in the area and the local fire department was sent to the scene. In a statement, SDG&E spokesman Anthony Wagner said the fire erupted in one of 24 battery containers on site. There are no reported injuries. The company will conduct a “thorough review of the event to determine the cause of the incident,” Wagner wrote.

After a couple of fires at renewable energy battery storage sites in San Diego, a growing number of leaders in the county want to suspend the building of new ones. 

But that would undermine the county’s soon-to-be and legally binding commitment to run on 100 percent renewable energy by 2045 via a new Climate Action Plan. Unless the county makes enormous investments in nuclear or geothermal power, sources of power that don’t create planet-warming greenhouse gases, batteries are key to keeping the lights and A/C on when the sun goes down. 

The County Board of Supervisors will decide on Sept. 11 whether to ban building battery storage until stricter fire safety restrictions are in place. Such a moratorium, pushed by Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond, could mean no new battery projects for at least another two years as county planners come up with standards. It also makes it harder for the county to transition away from fossil fuels because batteries store the sun and wind’s energy at night when it’s in high demand. 

The upcoming vote also puts a spotlight on Democrat Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer as she reckons with constituents in her district who are frightened of fire but also expect her to lead the charge on the energy transition – all ahead of her reelection bid this November. Lawson-Remer, who is the vice chair of San Diego Community Power, a public power company built to execute the county’s renewable energy goals, hasn’t clearly said what she wants to do yet.  

“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,” she said in a statement to Voice on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Escondido’s City Council passed a resolution late last month stating that battery storage projects are risky and bring no economic value to the communities they’re in. While written to broadly capture any battery storage project, the move coincides with an upcoming county decision of whether to approve a proposed and now highly controversial battery storage project called Seguro Energy Storage developed by AES. It has the potential to power 240,000 homes, but the timing of its development could not have been worse.  

Two large battery projects caught fire recently elsewhere in the region: One at Gateway Energy Storage in Otay Mesa earlier this year, and another in September of 2023 at the Valley Center Energy Storage Facility operated by Terra-Gen. These chemical fires are notoriously difficult to put out and typically can’t be doused by conventional firefighting methods. That stirred fear and opposition in Escondido, which doesn’t have any power to block the Seguro project being built just outside city limits on county land.  

Escondido Councilmember Christian Garcia, who serves on the board of Clean Energy Alliance, a renewable public power company serving North County that would otherwise be supportive of battery storage proliferation, was among those who voted for the resolution.  

“I’m not opposed to battery storage facilities. It’s this one specifically,” Garcia told Voice. He said he believes the location of the project, near a small smattering of ranch homes, could impact home insurance rates due to the potential fire hazard and that the land could be used for a business that adds more economic value to the community.  

Tim Wolf, a spokesperson for AES and Seguro’s developer, argued with that. The company says the project would generate $5.8 million in local property tax revenue every year, and more than half would go to Escondido schools. Another $140,000 would go to Palomar Health and $370,000 to San Marcos Fire Department.  

Escondido’s resolution has little effect on whether Seguro can move forward. That’s up to the county Board of Supervisors, which could opt to allow any battery projects currently in development to move forward, even if the board chooses to prohibit building any new ones for now. Still, AES is concerned they’ll eventually be out of compliance with whatever new guidelines the county comes up with if they build their project now.  

“We want to be consistent with development standards and what communities want to see. We’re really in a tough situation where we want to be good partners,” said Corinne Lytle Bonine, director of permitting at AES. 

There is another option. Battery developers can opt to go around all the pushback and local regulations and get their project approved by the state via the California Energy Commission. Only one renewable energy project made any headway on that route, the Fountain Wind project in Shasta County. Lytle Bonine said that route can be more cumbersome in terms of the amount of analysis companies have to provide and pass through the state’s experts.  

“We’d like to get community buy-in,” she said.  

AES’ desired location is on an old horse ranch just outside of central Escondido. A small subdivision, wineries and a handful of business catering to animal care surround the perimeter. It’s a good location, the company says, because it’s near a large substation which batteries need to be close to in order to connect to the grid.  

San Diego Gas and Electric, an investor-owned utility, operates another battery storage project immediately adjacent to the substation in an industrial section of town. But SDG&E isn’t in the hot seat with the community, AES is. 

To try and appease the community, AES changed its proposal substantially. It reduced the battery project’s size by 20 percent to make room for larger setbacks between it and the nearest home. The company also agreed to bury power lines connecting the blocks of lithium-ion battery chemistry to the grid underground. 

Dozens in the community still want Seguro dead. A Facebook group called “Stop the Seguro Battery Energy Storage System in Escondido” feeds news about lithium battery fires and other communities opposing battery projects across the country to its 350 members. 

Joe Rowley, a former Sempra executive who built gas-fired and renewable projects across North America, says he’s against the Seguro project because it’s too close to homes and says large battery projects like Seguro should be placed 1,000 feet away from existing residences.  

“Batteries are not going away. They’re needed. But what’s missing here is any kind of recognition in zoning regulations that these are a whole different animal and need to be addressed specifically,” Rowley said.  

Lytle Bonine, director of permitting at AES, said a 1,000-foot setback from homes would make it very difficult if not impossible to build energy storage projects anywhere in the county.  

“Developing a setback on a use like battery storage from residences that is also an important component of residential development is overly burdensome, illogical, and inconsistent with the intent of battery storage to bring electrical generation closer to where it is needed most during peak hours,” she said.  

The public power companies San Diego formed to reach its 100 percent renewable energy goals don’t want a slow-down.  

“A moratorium would be completely counterintuitive not only to San Diego Community Power, but the county of San Diego itself,” said Jen Lebron, a spokesperson for San Diego Community Power. “It makes it nearly impossible for us to meet our local (renewable energy) procurement goals.” 

San Diego Community Power and Clean Energy Alliance bill ratepayers in the communities that sign-up to be a part of each company for the energy they consume, and use that money to buy and build new renewable power. Lebron said a moratorium would create a “chilling effect” on energy companies that want to build in San Diego County.  

“If we lose those development dollars we lose clean energy, jobs and enormous tax revenue,” Lebron said.  

Greg Wade, CEO of Clean Energy Alliance, said if the county stops accepting applications for battery storage, it would hinder the development of newer technologies that aren’t as risky as lithium ion. 

“We simply cannot hope to achieve our local, regional and state goals of 100 percent renewable energy future without battery storage,” Wade wrote in an email.  

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