After citizen alarm over battery-storage plants, board orders stronger notice rules and hazard planning

A spate of public comments and testimony about recent utility-scale battery-storage fires on the East Coast and at Moss Landing prompted a lengthy conversation at the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on whether the county should pause or exercise tighter controls over large battery‑energy storage system projects proposed in or near unincorporated communities.

Why it mattered: Recent high‑profile battery fires elsewhere — including Moss Landing — and the growing number of planned battery facilities led residents in Nipomo and other villages to demand more engagement, clearer notification and better emergency planning for first responders. County staff said an already-permitted project could not be paused without risk of litigation; the board instead directed policy and operational changes intended to increase local preparedness and notice.

What the board directed - Require staff to bring an ordinance or ordinance language updates as part of the county’s routine ordinance cycle that increases the official radius for mailed project notices to at least 1,000 feet for utility-scale battery storage facilities (the current practice uses a 300‑foot radius for many project notices). - Task staff to add support for “local control” of siting decisions to the county’s legislative platform and to pursue state legislation that…