The County of Santa Cruz on Friday released a draft ordinance that would regulate the development of future Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
By crafting the ordinance, the county seeks to maintain local control over where BESS facilities are located, and how they are operated.
The public is invited to review the draft ordinance before the county Board of Supervisors considers it on Nov. 18.
It can be accessed at bit.ly/4orihVV
“Transparency and public engagement are essential to this process,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Felipe Hernandez. “We encourage residents to review the materials, learn more about the proposed ordinance, and share their feedback as we look for ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and build a better future for ourselves and the next generation.”
If the board approves the ordinance, it would undergo environmental review and face final review by the supervisors and several advisory bodies including the Planning Commission. The process is expected to take up to a year.
Meanwhile, the County of Monterey is crafting a moratorium that would temporarily halt construction of new ones to give officials time to create its own set of rules.
BESS facilities were thrust into the public spotlight on Jan. 16 when the Vistra Battery Energy Storage System in Moss Landing caught fire, sending massive plumes of toxic black smoke into the air and igniting concern from the public about safety surrounding them.
The facilities are agglomerations of large batteries that store power from energy sources such as wind and solar, to be used during times of need.
Monterey County Supervisor Glenn Church, who proposed the emergency ordinance on Oct. 28, said BESS facilities are likely an inevitability, with jurisdictions increasingly turning to alternative energy sources. But the relatively new technology requires a unique set of rules, he said.
And such an approach is even more vital with BESS plants like Vistra, which was located adjacent to the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and South County’s slough system, both important environmental assets.
While no BESS facilities have been proposed in Monterey County, Church says he proposed the moratorium so the county can be ready if a company expresses interest in building one.
“If someone does want to come in the next year and we don’t have an ordinance, we’re going to have to put together an ordinance and deal with conditions rather haphazardly,” Church told The Pajaronian. “And I don’t think that’s really fair to the community, or to the industry, because they need to know what the rules are coming in.”
Church points out that Solano County has its own similar ordinance that lasted from fall 2024 through August, and Orange County is creating one after a BESS fire there.
Church acknowledged that creating rules for utilities can be difficult for local jurisdictions, since they are largely regulated by the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission.
Smaller facilities that generate less than 200 megawatts are subject to local zoning rules, Church says. But larger ones are regulated entirely by those state agencies, and can therefore avoid local control.
That’s because Assembly Bill 205—approved in 2022—gives the CEC exclusive authority to approve them.
“Even ministerial permits such as grading don’t have to go to the county,” he said. “It just bypasses us completely. I think that’s really inadequate, and it leaves it to Sacramento to decide what are the conditions and what is best for our area.”
Still, Church hopes that the county can craft an ordinance that would wrest as much control as possible for future BESS facilities.
“I want us to play as large a role as possible in putting forth conditions on safety and health matters,” he said. “It seems pretty basic and common sense in my view.”
The county has until late November to complete the emergency ordinance. The supervisors will consider it after that.
It would take a 4/5 vote to pass.
