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Council study session examines proposed moratorium on large battery-energy storage systems after national incidents
Summary
Planning staff recommended a six-month moratorium on new large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) to give the city time to develop zoning, siting, construction and operational standards. Staff cited thermal-runaway risks, lengthy water-based firefighting responses and recent out-of-state fires as reasons to pause approvals.
Planning staff presented a study-session briefing on April 28 proposing a six-month moratorium on new commercial and grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) while the city drafts siting, construction and operational code standards.
Gabriel Clark, Planner II, told council that energy storage systems — particularly grid-scale lithium-ion battery installations — serve useful roles in load-leveling, renewable-energy smoothing and emergency backup but pose specific public-safety and environmental risks that warrant detailed local standards. He said residential and smaller on-site commercial batteries would not be covered by the moratorium because their scale and risk profile are substantially lower.
Clark described the principal hazard as thermal runaway, a cell-level…
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