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Commission tables decision on 300 MW Horn Shadow battery storage after developer presentation and public questions
Summary
Desiree presented plans to add a 300‑megawatt lithium‑ion battery storage facility adjacent to the operational Horn Shadow solar project; commissioners asked about fire risk, decommissioning, taxes and incentives and decided to table the conditional use permit to gather more information.
Representatives from Desiree, the developer behind the Horn Shadow Solar project, presented plans to add a 300‑megawatt lithium‑ion battery energy storage system (BESS) adjacent to the operating Horn Shadow solar site east of Castle Dale.
Joel Puritz and Emma Cripps said the proposed BESS would occupy roughly 21 acres (about 15 acres fenced for battery equipment and about 6 acres for collection routing) and share the existing interconnection at the Emory substation. Cripps said the battery was included in the solar approval from March 2023 but had been upsized from 75 MW to 300 MW to match the solar project. "Weare looking for approval of a conditional use permit from Emery County to permit the BESS site as a solar energy facility," she said during the presentation.
Officials and staff questioned safety and lifecycle issues. Commissioners asked whether batteries have caught fire and what the failure rate is; Puritz said industry experience shows failures are rare and estimated a failure rate "less than a third of a percent" for comparable units and described multiple fail‑safes and continuous monitoring. On decommissioning, Desiree said the project will carry a bond and engage an independent third party to estimate reclamation costs; Liz Peyton said the useful life of the batteries is about 20 years and the company will augment containers in 3–5 year increments to offset degradation.
Commissioners also asked whether the storage entity would be the same owner and whether incentives would be required. Desiree representatives said the company expects to own and operate the storage, though the financing entity may differ, and said they were not asking for incentives on other storage projects but requested that the county "honor the initial agreement" for Horn Shadow to include both solar and storage together. The planning commission record included mixed recommendations and a level‑2 denial in planning commission sent the matter to the county for level‑3 review.
After questions and public comment the commission voted to table action on Item 20 to gather additional information and to address outstanding issues including CRA/participation agreement elements; the motion to table passed unanimously.
