The Escondido City Council on May 7 voted 5-0 to direct city staff to incorporate San Diego County guidance on battery energy storage systems into the city’s California Fire Code (CFC) update, to codify minimum workforce standards for projects above a 70-kilowatt-hour threshold, and to keep the current interim urgency moratorium in place until the council returns with recommended limits on the total number of projects.

Why it matters: the council’s direction sets a near-term regulatory path for commercial, utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) after an October 2024 on-site fire and public concern about safety. The action aims to allow staff to build enforceable local rules (through a CFC update) while retaining local pause authority until the city determines any local cap and final code text.

City staff framed the item as a report and request for direction. Veronica Moronis, the city planner, summarized prior council actions including adoption of an interim urgency ordinance in October 2024 and an extension via ordinance 2024-14R adopted November 20, 2024, and noted staff had researched existing regulatory frameworks, industry practices and San Diego County guidance. Moronis said the county document was intended to help jurisdictions meet the intent of section 1.10.2 of the California Fire Code and that staff recommended incorporating that guidance as part of Escondido’s routine CFC update.

Deputy Fire Marshal Lavonna Korecki told the council the county guidance contains placement and setback measures that vary by density and wildland interface, and that fire personnel recommend following the county’s guidance with eventual incorporation into the Escondido fire code.

Stakeholder testimony split between safety-focused labor and industry groups. Corey Schumacher, policy director for IBEW Local 569, asked council to rescind the moratorium and to require workforce provisions, urging the council to “rescind the urgency ordinance enacting a moratorium on commercial battery energy storage systems” and to adopt minimum workforce standards including use of C-10 licensed contractors and requiring that “a minimum of 15% of all on-site certified electricians performing electrical work hold ESAM certification.”

Industry speakers urged lifting the moratorium while adopting enforceable safety standards. John Boyer, director of EHS at Middle River Power, told the council the combination of ending the moratorium and adopting standards “allows well designed projects to move forward safely and responsibly.” Greg Wade, CEO of Clean Energy Alliance, said BESS “plays a vital role in our renewable energy future” and supported staff’s recommendation to incorporate county guidance into the CFC.

Council members pressed for clarifications that figured prominently in discussion: whether projects sited inside Escondido necessarily send power to local customers (staff and stakeholders answered that storage exports to the broader grid and cannot be guaranteed to serve only city customers), whether tax or sales revenues remain in Escondido (staff did not have a definitive answer at the hearing), and what staff resources a city-specific land-use ordinance would require (staff said incorporating county guidance into the mandatory CFC update would be more efficient than drafting a separate zoning ordinance and that a land-use zoning approach would likely require more staff time and a later return to council).

Motion and next steps: Mayor Dana White moved—and Councilmember [Fitzgerald] seconded—a motion directing staff to: 1) retain the urgency moratorium until the council returns with recommendations (including a studied cap on the total number of BESS projects), 2) incorporate the San Diego County BESS guidance into the city’s CFC update as staff’s recommended pathway, and 3) codify minimum workforce safety standards in the CFC update for projects of 70 kilowatt-hours and above, including requiring C-10 licensed contractors for electrical work and a minimum of 15% of on-site certified electricians to hold ESAM (energy storage and microgrid training) certification. The council voted 5-0 to approve the motion.

What the action does—and does not—do: the council’s vote directs staff to prepare code language and outreach; it does not adopt a final ordinance or change state code. Staff told council they will proceed with community outreach, cross-departmental coordination and the regular CFC adoption process. Staff also said they are continuing to investigate size thresholds and have not recommended a numeric threshold for small vs. large facilities beyond the workforce recommendation tied to 70 kWh and above. The city may rescind the urgency ordinance at any time before its scheduled expiration on October 5, 2025.

Concerns and open questions: several council members and public speakers asked about local economic and employment benefits, noting construction jobs are often temporary and that the net local tax benefit depends on where equipment and materials are purchased. Council members also asked whether a local cap on projects is appropriate; the motion directs staff to return with options for a cap. Staff noted state law (Senate Bill 38, 2023) requires emergency response plans for all BESS facilities and that national standards (for example NFPA 855 and UL 9540 testing referenced by industry speakers) and the upcoming 2026 fire-code updates will factor into final language.

What to expect next: staff will proceed with the CFC update pathway recommended by the council, include the workforce standards the council directed be codified, continue outreach to stakeholders and return to council with proposed code language, resource needs and any cap recommendations. The council’s direction preserves the current moratorium while those steps are completed.

Votes at a glance:
- Consent calendar (items 1–9): approved 5–0 (motion to approve consent calendar; individual items not pulled were adopted).
- Battery energy storage systems (item 10): council directed staff to incorporate San Diego County guidance into the 2026 CFC update, codify minimum workforce standards (C-10 contractors; minimum 15% ESAM-certified electricians on-site for projects ≥70 kWh), retain the urgency ordinance until the item returns with cap recommendations—motion approved 5–0.
- Appointments to the Building Advisory and Appeals Board: Austin Denman and Michael Delaney appointed 5–0.

Councilmembers, staff and public who spoke on this item (selected): Veronica Moronis, city planner; Lavonna Korecki, deputy fire marshal; Corey Schumacher, policy director, IBEW Local 569; Lauren Casares, policy advisor, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce; Cody George, Ravenbolt co-founder; John Boyer, director of EHS, Middle River Power; Greg Wade, CEO, Clean Energy Alliance; Mayor Dana White; Deputy Mayor Martinez; Councilmembers Fitzgerald, Joe Garcia and Christian Garcia.

Ending note: the council’s direction leaves the city working on an interim path that prioritizes safety through the fire-code process while retaining local pause authority until staff returns with cap options and final code language.