Quick Take
Former supervisor Bruce McPherson urges the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to move forward with a new battery energy storage system ordinance on Tuesday. He argues it is essential for climate action and local safety. He says the rules directly respond to the Moss Landing fire by banning volatile battery chemistries, requiring fire-safe containers and mandating strict inspections. McPherson argues that battery storage is critical to cutting fossil fuels, preventing power outages and keeping local control over projects like the one proposed on Minto Road outside Watsonville.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.
On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors will consider moving forward with an ordinance to regulate battery energy storage systems (BESS), including where they can be located and what protections will be required to keep us safe.
I encourage the board of supervisors to support the draft ordinance, which will kick off the vitally important process of environmental review and community input.
When I served as a Santa Cruz County supervisor, I helped initiate development of the draft BESS ordinance. I was motivated by what I saw as the need to update our planning codes to support our transition to renewable energy in the fight against climate change.
At the time, the horrible Moss Landing battery fire had not yet happened. Given the Moss Landing disaster, why do I support a BESS ordinance for Santa Cruz County?
I have several reasons.
MORE ON BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE: Read Lookout’s past coverage here
The first is that without BESS, we’re stuck with fossil fuels, which drive climate change.
Addressing climate change motivated my work to establish Central Coast Community Energy, the public agency that uses clean, renewable energy to power our local electricity needs. Renewable energy, led by solar and wind, depends on BESS to store energy during the day for use in the evening to meet peak periods of demand.
Secondly, BESS in Santa Cruz County is a key solution to preventing power outages that continue to plague our communities, especially South County and Mid-County. The power outages are due in large part to our vulnerable local power grid. Local BESS can ensure more reliable electricity for residents, as well as our crucial agricultural, health care and commercial sectors.
The proposed ordinance makes what happened in Moss Landing essentially impossible.
Moss Landing was an epic failure, primarily in three ways: (a) use of volatile lithium chemistry known as nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) that was designed for electric vehicle cars; (b) a volume of about 100,000 batteries that were co-located in an old building; and (c) an unsophisticated fire suppression system that relied on water sprinklers.
The county’s new ordinance fully addresses all of the above issues.
The ordinance bans use of NMC chemistry. BESS projects cannot be located inside buildings and will be required to use separated fire-safe containers to house batteries that typically have 40 batteries in each container. Safety must include inspections by local fire officials, 24/7 site monitoring and alarm systems, proof of large-scale testing, training for first responders and national fire certification compliance.
Air pollution causes an estimated 12,000 deaths annually in California. So-called “peaker plants” that use fossil fuels to produce energy for the electrical grid are a major contributor. Santa Cruz County’s BESS ordinance will enable our local community to meaningfully contribute to the effort to cut back on California’s reliance on fossil fuels for electricity.
Establishing our own local BESS ordinance will help maintain local control over projects, including the one proposed for 90 Minto Road in South County, especially in terms of environmental review, direct community investment and public input.
State law (Assembly Bill 205) grants developers the right to bypass the local permitting process and go to the California Energy Commission for approval. The developer of the Minto Road project has stated it will honor Santa Cruz County’s strict ordinance, if the board of supervisors approves moving forward with the ordinance. Without board approval, the developer has signaled it will have no choice but to seek state approval.
Support for a BESS ordinance in Santa Cruz County is growing, most notably within the environmental community, thanks in part to community meetings, as well as new policies established at the state level.
The county Commission on the Environment, which is comprised of 10 residents and makes recommendations to the board of supervisors, on Oct. 13 recommended integration of BESS into the county’s energy and land use policies.
Watsonville Wetlands Watch, the well-regarded nonprofit, announced on Oct. 27, at a community town hall in Watsonville, it supports BESS in Santa Cruz County.
County planning staff have done their homework and brought forward a solid draft ordinance. As directed by the board, they’ve considered the Moss Landing disaster, they’ve absorbed information learned from the Commission on the Environment community meetings, they’ve added thorough requirements for where and how projects can be sited, and they’ve factored in state Sen. John Laird’s legislation and the latest policies from the state.
I’m confident the draft ordinance is ready to move forward to environmental review and greater public input – all in the name of doing our part as we address climate change, while ensuring community safety and preserving local control.
I encourage the board of supervisors to support the draft ordinance. Most importantly, it addresses safety as we move toward a cleaner environment.
Bruce McPherson served on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors from 2013 to 2024. Prior to that, he served as California Secretary of State, California state senator and assemblymember.