OC leaders, residents push back against proposed battery storage facility
OC residents protest lithium battery plant
Residents and leaders in Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano are speaking out against a proposed lithium battery storage plant near Saddleback College.
ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. (CNS) - Top political leaders and residents voiced opposition Thursday to a proposed battery energy storage facility in San Juan Capistrano they say poses significant public safety risks with only one main access point in case of a fire.
The project has drawn opposition from Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, and Orange County Board Vice Chairwoman Katrina Foley as well as San Juan Capistrano Mayor Troy Bourne and Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach.
Compass Energy Storage LLC is proposing to build a 250-megawatt battery energy storage system in the city on 13 acres at Camino Capistrano and the San Diego (5) Freeway. The facility would include lithium-iron phosphate batteries, transformers, a switchyard and a collector substation to hook up with the San Diego Gas & Electric Trabuco to Capistrano 138-kilovolt transmission line.
The project, which was rejected by the city of San Juan Capistrano, can be approved by the California Energy Commission based on a 2022 state law as part of an effort to add to California's renewable energy efforts.
The commission's officials emphasized that no decision would be made during Thursday's hearing. The project would face a vote sometime later this year after officials continue investigating the pros and cons of it, officials said.
Representatives for the project attempted to assure the public that the facility would pose little risk in case of fire.
Land use environmental attorney Renee Robin told the commission, "We have a very strong safety ethic at Engie North America. ... I don't say that lightly."
She said battery storage facilities are "essential to meet the energy demand. ... The biggest issue for all of us is when we have excess solar power in our grid."
Robin said the site is especially suited for the project because it is next to an "existing transmission line we can tap into that cam accommodate 100% of the project's energy without any curtailment. ... This is a very rare commodity in California and it's an access to that region which has to be able to address the demand which is expected to double in Orange County by 2045."
The project could generate up to $50 million to the state, county and local government and $9 million in sales tax revenue, she said. It would require 130 construction jobs and eight permanent operational jobs on site.
Officials said the facility would feature outdoor battery containers, which would limit the risk of fire spreading.
Bourne, however, said he was actually part of an effort to redevelop the site and argued it can't be done.
"This site cannot be safely developed and it has nothing to do with a battery storage facility," the mayor said. "This site can't be developed until the creek erosion problems can be solved."
Bourne added, "We are not opposed to Saddleback Church developing its property. ... It's going through a financial decline and monetizing this donated property is critical."
He noted that Crystal Cathedral officials, who previously owned the site, were also foiled in developing it.
The mayor said the city attempted to work with church officials on alternatives but, "The church responded those alternatives were not as lucrative as the battery storage deal that they had struck."
Bourne said the city supports green energy efforts.
"We accept battery storage is part of the green energy solution. We believe that to be true," he said. "But we reject the suggestion made by the application that there is no fire danger here. This is a new technology and while I think we can definitively that battery storage facilities are safer than they used to be, we can also say they're not as safe as we would like them to be."
Bourne, who is also on the Orange County Fire Authority board, said local firefighters "strongly oppose the project."
He added, "I pray to God there's not a fire at the facility here during a Santa Ana wind event that catches the slopes. ... If the public finds out we approved this project and the only access to the entire site was a single point at a railroad crossing with a history of accidents and that we didn't even require the applicant to provide a second access point on the property, then shame on all of us."
Foley said she also is a big booster of renewable energy initiatives.
"We're building a (Battery Energy Storage System) facility at John Wayne Airport and we're doing it the right way," Foley said. "We cannot move forward into a sustainable future at the expense of public safety and commonsense will tell you that locating at this site adjacent to thousands of homes in a suburban neighborhood in a high-risk fire area next to a creek, a railroad and a freeway ... is just a terrible idea."
Foley said Battery Energy Storage Systems in high-risk fire zones "have the potential to be catastrophic. ... I'm here to ask the commission to deny this project at this location because of the wildfire risk it poses. Let's work together on alternative, better sites. I ask the commission to dismiss this application as a terrible idea."
Dixon told the commission, "I would encourage you also to consider an alternative site far removed from transportation arterials and residential communities."