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Central Coast Community Energy outlines clean‑energy progress as local residents press safety, siting concerns over battery storage
Summary
Central Coast Community Energy told the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors it is expanding renewable generation and adding diverse storage projects; public speakers urged moratoria and stronger regulation for lithium‑ion battery facilities and pushed for alternates such as flow batteries and compressed‑air storage.
Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) reported to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors on Aug. 5 that the community choice aggregator is expanding renewable generation and diversifying energy storage, while members of the public urged stricter rules and moratoria for lithium‑ion battery energy storage systems (BESS).
3CE CEO Robert (Rob) Shaw told the board the agency serves 30 cities and five counties and supplies power to more than 1.1 million people. He said 3CE has contracted new solar and storage projects and plans to supply 64 percent of its load with renewable energy by October 2028, with additional contracts under review. “We continue to develop new renewables,” Shaw said, adding the agency had “over a gigawatt” of new projects under contract and more than 500 megawatts of storage in its portfolio.
3CE’s community relations manager for the northern area, Sofia Schwartzke, highlighted storage’s role in shifting daytime solar…
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