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Commissioners review 150 MW Summer Sweet battery storage proposal in Morrisville; two resolutions prepared
Summary
Planning staff presented a comprehensive plan compliance review for a proposed 150 MW, 16‑acre battery energy storage system in the village of Morrisville; staff noted prior denials and that two resolutions (in accord / not in accord) were prepared; no final commission determination was recorded in the transcript.
Fauquier County planning staff presented a comprehensive plan compliance review for a proposed Summer Sweet Energy battery energy storage system in the village of Morrisville, describing the project and the county’s decision options.
Staff, led by Miss Marshall, said the project would occupy about 16 acres of a property that is just under 34 acres off Shipstore Road and would include a 150‑megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) consisting of 192 individual battery enclosures (each about 20–40 feet long and 10 feet high), a control house, a substation, access roads, stormwater management and screening. Staff said construction is anticipated in 2028 or later and that the facility would connect to the adjacent Dominion Energy Morrisville substation to store and later discharge power onto the grid.
Marshall explained that because the proposed utility is not shown in the Comprehensive Plan the Planning Commission must determine whether the general location, character and extent of the facility are substantially in accord with the plan. Staff cited relevant Comprehensive Plan chapters (village plan Chapter 7; Chapter 1 vision and goals; Chapter 9 public facilities and utilities) and the county’s recently adopted Battery Energy Storage System ordinance and standards. Marshall noted prior board and commission actions on the parcel: a 2023 rezoning and special exception request for a junkyard had been denied; in November 2024 the commission voted 4–1 that a prior proposal was not in accord, and the applicant later withdrew an appeal in April 2025.
Staff summarized the applicant’s stated benefits: increased local supply reliability, potential tax revenue, possible indirect reductions in emitting generation and reduced need for new transmission. Commissioners asked whether Morrisville residents would be guaranteed first access to stored power; staff said no such guarantee exists and that stored energy would be released to the electric grid and distributed where needed. Commissioners also asked about fire and water contamination risk; Marshall said that county staff and local fire leadership had visited an existing BESS facility (Remington) and received additional information on fire safety practices, and that BESS standards had evolved since the previous submissions.
Two draft resolutions were prepared for the commission: Resolution A finding the proposal in accord with the Comprehensive Plan and Resolution B finding it not in accord. Staff told the commission that if the commission finds the project is in accord, the applicant would then apply for a special exception with standards and conditions; if it is not in accord, the applicant could appeal the commission’s determination to the Board of Supervisors. No formal vote on either resolution was recorded in the portion of the meeting captured by the transcript.
The commission’s later agenda or evening session was expected to include actual votes, but those votes were not part of the provided transcript.
