Tulsa planning staff and a civil engineering consultant described a proposed battery energy storage system — known in industry as BESS (battery energy storage systems) — that would occupy multiple parcels west of the southwest corner of West 30th Place South and South Ellwood.

The Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (TMAPC) voted unanimously to recommend the industrial-moderate (IM) zoning requested by the applicant; the City Council discussion on Oct. 15 focused on how the technology works, whether it needs utilities such as cooling or water, and the site’s relationship to nearby homes.

Planning staff said the project would combine scattered parcels to create a roughly six-acre “battery yard” in an area that is already transitioning from residential to industrial uses. Preston Bartley, a civil engineer with Westwood Professional Services, told councilors his firm has worked on similar installations and described BESS units as containerized “pods” that store electricity for dispatch to the grid at times of peak demand. He said the systems are often sited near utilities because they need direct connections to the power grid.

Councilors asked specific safety and resource-use questions: whether the batteries require large volumes of water or cooling systems, what would happen in lightning strikes, and how close the site is to existing residences. Bartley said his firm is not the applicant and that he was not a technical battery-systems expert, but explained that configurations vary widely — some BESS installations are many acres in rural areas, others are smaller for urban settings — and that safety and operational specifications depend on the technology and capacity proposed by the developer, Elion Energy.

Planning staff said the area is in transition and contains scattered residential parcels; staff estimated about 14 property parcels are involved though they could not confirm how many still have standing houses. They also said some neighbors to the north had inquired about selling their houses. Councilors pressed for more technical detail and asked staff to secure more precise information about resource needs and emergency response plans before future council action.

TMAPC’s recommendation to IM zoning was unanimous; the council discussion did not record a final vote on rezoning during the Oct. 15 meeting. Councilors and staff agreed additional technical information — including vendor specifications, fire-safety and cooling systems, and whether the site will require special exception approvals because it will be treated as a major utility — should be provided as the application moves toward a formal council hearing.