Planning commission finds Summer Sweet battery storage project not in accord with Fauquier County comprehensive plan, 4-1

The Fauquier County Planning Commission on Sept. 18 voted 4–1 that the proposed Summer Sweet Energy Center, a 150-megawatt battery energy storage facility off Shipstore Road, is not substantially in accord with the county comprehensive plan.

Commissioners heard a staff presentation, testimony from the applicant and supporting experts and groups, and deliberated before the motion to find the proposal not in accord passed 4–1. The finding is a formal planning determination under the Code of Virginia and does not constitute a special-exception or building permit decision.

Staff said the entire parcel is just under 34 acres, with the proposed facility footprint about 16 acres. The site, within the Village of Morrisville, is zoned industrial park; surrounding land uses and zoning include agriculture, residential, rural residential and commercial designations and include Mary Walter Elementary School and a Dominion Energy Morrisville substation. The project description in the compliance review states the proposed facility would contain 192 individual battery enclosures (20–40 feet in length, about 10 feet high), a control house, a…