Pulaski County commissioners discuss moratoriums for battery storage, carbon capture, data centers and industrial solar

Pulaski County commissioners on a regularly scheduled meeting discussed whether the county should pause new applications for battery energy storage systems (BESS), carbon capture and storage (CCS), data centers and industrial-scale solar in order to give the Area Plan Commission time to draft protective ordinances.

The discussion, led by Commissioner Jenny, emphasized public-safety, emergency-response and land-use concerns and noted that Pulaski currently has no specific ordinances covering BESS, CCS or data centers. "We are sitting ducks if the application comes in and we haven't acted," Commissioner Jenny said, arguing the county needs time to prepare fire, emergency medical services and evacuation planning for large projects.

Why it matters: commissioners and multiple members of the public said the county lacks tools and data to assess the scale and local impacts of large energy projects. Commissioners cited an existing footprint of recorded solar leases they said is already large (discussants referenced roughly 26,000 recorded acres) and voiced concern about the pace of new applications and the county’s ability to track recorded and unrecorded leases.

County Attorney Jacob Aylor advised that the normal route to impose a temporary pause starts with the planning bodies. "Once that is promulgated through that body, it would come back to the commissioners for review and either for you to accept that or you can send it back with comments or additions," Aylor said, adding that a clearly scoped moratorium with a limited time frame is easier to defend in court than a blanket ban.

Commissioner Abbott asked whether moratoriums should be separate for each industry; Aylor said narrower, industry-specific moratoriums are typically easier to defend and implement because different technical and legal questions apply to each project type.

Public comment reinforced the commissioners’ concerns about large-scale solar and data centers. Longtime farmer Darryl Goodman told commissioners he had heard local businesses already reporting revenue losses tied to acreage removed from farming and urged limits or a pause on further applications. Other residents asked for a broader benefit-risk assessment covering economic, health, emergency-services and quality-of-life impacts.

Outcome and next steps: the board did not adopt a moratorium at the meeting. Commissioners directed staff and legal counsel to prepare draft ordinance language and suggested sending that draft to the Area Plan Commission (APC) for review and public hearing. Jacob Aylor said he would assist with drafting and recommended the APC form focused subcommittees or hearings to address the distinct technical issues for each industry. The board indicated it would revisit the matter after the APC completes its review and public hearings.