Commissioners debate battery-storage language, March's Point emissions and county coordination in climate update

Planning Commission members spent substantial time on May 14 debating how the Comprehensive Plan's climate and environment policies should treat battery-energy storage and how the plan should address greenhouse-gas emissions tied to March's Point refineries.

Chairman Jeremy Martin told the commission he had consulted the Washington State Department of Commerce after receiving public comments and cited the agency's guidance to explain why the city's greenhouse-gas inventory excludes March's Point facilities: "the city of Anacortes has done exactly the correct thing in not including it," he said, because the refineries lie in the county urban growth area and are outside the city's permitting jurisdiction.

Why it matters: Commissioners said they want the comp-plan language to manage local land-use and siting questions where the city has authority while also ensuring the plan does not imply the city regulates facilities outside city limits. At the same time, several commissioners stressed that battery storage may be necessary to support…