Quick Take
After the Moss Landing battery plant fire, New Leaf Energy’s plan to build a storage facility outside Watsonville has gotten more controversial. As Santa Cruz County's environment commission finalizes its recommendations, the board of supervisors will decide how to move forward in November.
The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors aims to have its first hearing on an ordinance regulating battery storage facilities at its Nov. 18 meeting, Lookout has learned. Elected officials will decide whether county planning staff can start preparing an environmental impact report or return to the drawing board, according to District 4 Supervisor Felipe Hernandez.
Conversations surrounding the ordinance have generated much attention from residents, many of whom are calling for more safety measures in place following a massive fire at a battery storage facility in Moss Landing earlier this year.
Earlier this summer, supervisors chose to delay a hearing on the ordinance. Instead, they opted to wait until a passage of a bill by state Sen. John Laird that would require new storage facilities to meet national fire safety standards and obtain local fire department inspections before operating. Hernandez told Lookout on Thursday that he anticipates Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign the bill.
Hernandez said the board wants to review that bill and any other related legislation and “make it part of the ordinance.”
The board’s action to take up the ordinance is timely.
Massachusetts-based New Leaf Energy is planning a 200-megawatt battery storage facility, “Seahawk,” near Watsonville, and has been in ongoing talks with county officials.
New Leaf has been working with the county on obtaining local permits. That process includes analysis by county staff, environmental and planning commissions approvals and a final vote from supervisors, with public input along the way.
But with a vote on an ordinance still months away, representatives from New Leaf told Lookout in August that the company is weighing taking a state path through the California Energy Commission that could completely override any local ordinance.
New Leaf developer Max Christian told Lookout on Thursday evening that it’s great to hear that the ordinance will have its first hearing in November. Once a final vote on the ordinance does happen, it will open the path toward permit review on the project, he said.
Taking the state route is the last resort, and the company is still committed to the local process, said Christian. “If we didn’t see a path towards the ordinance, at least getting a vote, then, yes, we’d have to make a decision,” he said.
“I’m hoping that they don’t do that because we need to have the community input,” said Hernandez. He told Lookout on Thursday that one of his priorities is ensuring that residents have input on projects like New Leaf’s.
Hernandez said it would be ideal if the county were able to prevent New Leaf from going through the state and remain committed to the local process. Local control, he said, is always better than the decision being made by someone else.
Prior to the November meeting, Hernandez plans to hold a public meeting with residents in South County to get input from the public regarding the ordinance; the date for that meeting is still being finalized.
On Wednesday evening in Watsonville, the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment voted to move forward with its own recommendations. It plans to complete those recommendations before the Nov. 18 meeting. The commission is made up of 10 residents, with two seats from each supervisory district: Tracey Weiss, Lisa Wooninck, John Hunt, Marina Roman, James Nakahara, Bob Culberston, Maria Perez, Kris Damhorst and Sheyna Burns. One seat is vacant.
The commission created an ad hoc committee to draft the recommendations, comprised of Nakahara, Damhorst, Burns and Wooninck.
The commission held three informational workshops regarding battery storage systems, how they operate, how safe they are and changes to technology. Commission chair Damhorst previously told Lookout that the sessions were meant to lay the foundation for community members about what clean energy is and looks like, and the role of battery storage systems.
Some of those recommendations include adding higher safety standards modeled after Kern County’s battery storage regulations, which require a hazard mitigation analysis and a fire risk analysis.
There needs to be a push to go beyond the “gold standard” when it comes to safety protocols, said Nakahara. He also suggested that there should be built-in agreements with neighbors regarding compensation in the event of a fire to avoid any future litigation.
The commission also plans to recommend that there be more regulations on testing and monitoring the environment before, during and after a facility is built. This way, if a fire were to break out, it would be easier to document any immediate impacts on air quality.
“Environmental monitoring should be part of any battery storage system,” said Wooninck. She added that this requirement was used for nuclear power plants and can be applicable to battery storage facilities.
The letter to county supervisors will also suggest that there be a rule requiring facilities to routinely update battery technology and ensure it is up to date to prevent any fires.
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