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Santa Cruz supervisors move to tighten safety, require studies as county refines battery storage ordinance
Summary
After hours of public comment and expert testimony, the Board of Supervisors directed staff to revise a draft battery energy storage (BES) combining-district ordinance to add measures on fire response, baseline air/soil/water monitoring and financial assurances, and to return with a new draft for the board’s review before CEQA and public hearings.
Terrence H. Hernandez, chair of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors, on Nov. 18 directed county staff to revise a draft ordinance that would map a new battery energy storage (BES) combining district to parcels adjacent to transmission substations and to initiate environmental review with strengthened protections.
The board’s action follows a daylong public hearing in which scientists, firefighters, labor leaders, environmental groups and residents debated whether the county should adopt local rules or allow the state to decide siting and safety. Stephanie Henson, assistant planning director, said the draft ordinance would require large installations to meet National Fire Protection Association standards, the California building and fire codes, and new state safety laws enacted after the Moss Landing fire. Henson listed key elements the draft would require: containerized outdoor installations, a…
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