Duval authorizes 6‑month letter of intent with Mammoth to study energy storage at proposed MOC site

The Duval City Council authorized the mayor on Dec. 2 to sign a six‑month letter of intent (LOI) with Mammoth that allows the company to perform feasibility work to support an application to Puget Sound Energy for siting an energy storage system on city land at a proposed maintenance and operations center (MOC).

Public works staff described the LOI as a preliminary, investigational agreement that permits Mammoth to conduct site analyses and due diligence without obligating the city to a lease. Public works director Steve Lanushevsky said the drawings presented were conceptual and not final design; he described the LOI as a step that would let Mammoth assemble a January application to Puget Sound Energy and that the city could walk away if Mammoth’s proposal was not selected or if negotiations later proved unsatisfactory.

Council discussed exclusivity language and the LOI’s six‑month term. Legal counsel explained the LOI’s nonbinding nature and said the "good faith" negotiation language appears in the nonbinding section; if Mammoth presents a land‑use agreement the parties would negotiate for a 60‑day period and the city would not be obligated to accept terms just because they were in the LOI. The council asked about subleasing, revenue sharing, confidentiality and whether the city would be first in line for electricity or preferential rates; staff said those details, if part of a lease, would return to council for public consideration.

A motion to authorize the mayor to sign the LOI passed unanimously. Staff said Mammoth would bear feasibility costs during the LOI period and that any negotiated lease would come back to council as a public action if pursued.