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County resident urges Isle of Wight to ban battery energy storage systems in farmland
Summary
A District 3 resident urged supervisors to ban battery energy storage systems (BESS) and to tighten the county's solar ordinance, arguing costs to ratepayers, permitting gaps and state/federal complexity justify local limits.
During citizen comments, resident David Tucker (District 3) urged the board to ban battery-energy-storage systems (BESS) in Isle of Wight County and to “clean up” the county solar-ordinance language to prevent developers from exploiting loopholes.
Tucker said the county’s solar feasibility and planning work has stalled in the past and that regional electric‑grid issues and federal/state rules have changed since 2021. He argued BESS and combined solar-plus-storage could impose reliability and cost impacts on ratepayers and said a local ban would prevent developers from using “loopholes” in local permitting. Tucker criticized repeated task‑force efforts and said staff and commissions have lacked consistent energy expertise.
The board received Tucker’s comments during the public-comment period; supervisors did not take action on the request at the meeting. County staff and the board earlier referenced ongoing energy and comprehensive‑plan work, but no specific ordinance language or timeline to act on BESS was presented in the meeting record.
Why it matters: Battery storage projects are increasingly proposed alongside utility-scale solar. County-level land-use controls and permitting language can affect whether and how storage is sited; local officials must weigh state and federal jurisdictional constraints as they consider updates to renewable‑energy ordinances.
