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Board tables Remington battery storage special exception for 30 days after safety questions
Summary
The board voted to table a resolution approving a siting agreement and special exception for a proposed 100-MW battery energy storage system at Dominion’s Remington power station to allow staff and supervisors time to review fire-safety and groundwater concerns raised by citizens and commissioners.
The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors voted to table consideration of a proposed siting agreement with Virginia Electric and Power Company (Dominion Energy) and a special exception for a 100-megawatt battery energy storage system at the Remington power station for 30 days.
County staff described the proposed facility as using about 72 acres of the existing 225-acre Remington station parcel and consisting of 174 individual battery enclosures with accompanying substation, access roads, stormwater controls and fencing. Staff and the planning commission recommended conditions limiting the total site area to 72 acres, restricting enclosure height, requiring setbacks from wetlands and flood plains, and adding landscaping/screening and pre-/post-construction road evaluations.
Dominion representatives told the board the project would leverage existing transmission infrastructure and reduce the need to disturb additional farmland. Dominion said the project was submitted for PJM study and that rising load in the Dominion load zone supports added storage. Dominion and its engineering witness described design and safety measures including adherence to NFPA 855, UL standards, 25-foot minimum separation between container groupings, gas and fire detection, ventilation and passive overpressure venting and agreed to coordinate with local fire officials; staff said the county fire marshal had reviewed the application and expressed no concerns.
Several citizens raised fire-safety and groundwater concerns during the public hearing and referenced a large battery-fire incident in California. Dominion and its fire-protection witness said the Remington design differs in key respects from that older incident (outdoor enclosures, different battery chemistry and larger spacing) and that those differences reduce propagation risk.
Supervisors asked for more time to review safety and environmental issues. One supervisor explicitly said he did not want the county to be a “guinea pig” for the technology. The board then approved a motion to table the matter for 30 days so staff and the county attorney can gather additional information and report back.
The tabling leaves the public hearing open and delays any authorization of the siting agreement or final special-exception decision pending further review.
