Santa Fe hearing on Rancho Viejo solar and battery storage centers on fire, plume and water risks

Santa Fe County staff recommended approval of a conditional use permit for Rancho Viejo Solar — a proposed 96-megawatt solar facility paired with a battery energy storage system (BESS) — but the proceeding on May 20 turned into a broad technical and procedural debate over fire risk, plume modeling, water supply and whether current county codes and national standards are sufficient for utility-scale battery projects. County staff entered a report recommending approval with two dozen conditions; third-party and independent experts warned gaps remain; the applicant, AES Clean Energy, said it has added multiple safety systems and UL testing; and multiple residents described health effects and property impacts from past large-scale BESS fires elsewhere.

The County Commissioners heard four hours of testimony after staff laid out a detailed staff report and a third-party peer review from ATAR Fire. County staff’s presentation described the project site, traffic and water plans, required special reports, and recommended 23 conditions before the conditional use permit site development plan can be recorded. “The application materials were made available on a dedicated county web page,” staff said, and noted the CUP would impose conditions that must be met before a development permit is issued.

Why it matters: Rancho Viejo would pair large-scale solar with a 48-megawatt / 192-megawatt-hour (applicant figure) BESS and a 2.3-mile generation tie line on private land about 3 miles south of the city of Santa Fe. Speakers — including fire engineers, environmental scientists and community groups — said a BESS accident could release toxic gases and particulate matter over populated neighborhoods; staff and the applicant replied that the facility would be built to the county-adopted International Fire Code (2021) and to the NFPA 855 standard (2023) and that the project includes additional protections beyond minimum code.

Most important facts - Staff recommendation: County staff said the project meets Sustainable Land Development Code (SLDC) criteria subject to 23 conditions, including compliance with Santa Fe County Fire Prevention requirements, a 30-foot defensible space around the development, a 30,000‑gallon water tank for wildland/fire protection and a smoke/plume model that must be finalized before recordation of the CUP site development plan. Staff emphasized the CUP governs land use and that final building permits and code enforcement are separate processes, handled later by the Construction…