Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Battery Storage topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
CleanTech San Diego tells advisory committee battery storage incidents have fallen; local survey shows majority support
Summary
CleanTech San Diego presented safety trends and a countywide survey at the Nov. 13 Community Advisory Committee meeting, saying incident rates have fallen since 2020 and reporting majority public support for residential (60%+), commercial (63%) and countywide (66%) battery storage projects.
Jason Anderson, CEO of CleanTech San Diego, told the San Diego Community Power Community Advisory Committee on Nov. 13 that national data show battery energy storage project incident rates per unit of energy have fallen substantially since about 2020 and that updated codes and standards are a major factor.
"As battery storage capacity has grown pretty rapidly in recent years, the incident rate per gigawatt hour has dropped by 98%," Anderson said, citing Electric Power Research Institute data and noting that new standards such as NFPA 855 and UL certifications have changed how projects are built and sited.
Anderson framed battery storage as necessary for reliability and decarbonization. He said batteries provide backup power, improve grid resilience and allow cheaper solar generation to be shifted to peak hours. "We need battery storage to really help us get to where we wanna go," he said.
CleanTech San Diego also shared results from a public sentiment survey of roughly 900 San Diegans. Anderson summarized the topline findings: about 65% support a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy; more than 60% support residential battery storage; 63% support commercial projects; 57% support large standalone projects; and 66% of county respondents support projects in the county. Anderson said the survey was fielded online in English and Spanish and attempted to match census demographics.
Committee members pressed on methodology and local differences. One member asked the sample size; Anderson said it was "about 900." Another asked what share of the sample came from unincorporated parts of San Diego County; Anderson said he had the breakdown and would share it with the committee. Members also asked how Community Power and member jurisdictions could be more proactive in identifying appropriate sites and communicating project benefits during local permitting.
On safety, Anderson pointed to changes in project design and monitoring, including sensors, spacing of battery containers and fire-suppression practices. He called out an Escondido incident as an example of a legacy project whose fire was contained to a single storage container and did not spread outside the site. Anderson clarified he was not a first responder or battery engineer and deferred technical questions to public-safety experts.
The committee received the presentation as an informational item with no formal action.
Ending: Community Advisory Committee members asked staff to circulate the presentation slides and Anderson indicated he would share additional survey breakdowns; the item was received and filed.
