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Mount Vernon council renews 60‑day moratorium on battery energy storage permits
Summary
The Mount Vernon City Council on July 23 approved ordinance 39-15 to renew a temporary moratorium on permitting battery energy storage systems while staff develops permanent regulations; council set a workplan of up to one year and heard written and in-person comments from Puget Sound Energy and local residents.
Mount Vernon — The City Council voted July 23 to adopt ordinance 39-15, renewing a moratorium on accepting applications for battery energy storage systems while staff prepares siting and safety regulations. The renewal, presented by Development Services Director Stacy Practioner, extends the city's pause on permitting for up to one year — the maximum allowed under the cited state authority — but council may shorten that timeline.
The moratorium matters because Mount Vernon currently has no zoning classification or local siting criteria for grid-scale battery systems. "The city does not have siting criteria or regulations to address safety standards or the placement of these systems," Development Services Director Stacy Practioner told the council. Practioner noted a scrivener's error in the…
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