Lincoln Council Approves Sophos Power’s Battery Storage Special Permit with Added Screening

Lincoln — The Lincoln City Council approved a special permit Monday for a standalone battery energy storage facility proposed by Sophos Power, agreeing to additional visual screening after hearing technical and safety details from the applicant.

David Levy, counsel for Sophos Power, told the council the project would place containerized lithium‑iron battery racks on privately leased land near North 120th Street and Highway 6 and that it was proposed under the city’s recently amended zoning rules for standalone battery energy storage systems. "These are 4‑hour batteries," Levy said, adding they are designed to support grid resiliency by storing and releasing energy as needed.

Safety consultant Paul Brown outlined the industry standards and safety layers he said the project follows, citing NFPA 855 and UL testing standards and describing monitoring systems and detection equipment. "If something does start to heat up ... it will shut down the battery or the rack or the container or the whole facility," Brown said, describing built‑in fail‑safes and continuous monitoring.

Council members pressed the applicant on emergency response and visual impacts. Levy said Sophos had worked with the City of Waverly and agreed to a 25‑foot wide perimeter planting belt on two‑and‑a‑half sides of the site, with six trees per 100 linear feet and roughly 50% evergreens (three of six trees required to be evergreen), and that the applicant would finalize an emergency action plan with city staff and Waverly.

The council voted to approve the project (motion introduced by Councilmember Bowers and seconded by Beckett) with one dissent: Councilmember Duden voted no; the motion carried 6–1.

Levy and other speakers emphasized the project’s local economic and tax benefits—Levy estimated a roughly $200 million investment and approximately $17 million in new property tax revenue over 20 years—and that the facility avoids wetlands and the 500‑year floodplain. Russ Edwards of Sophos (project representative) said the long‑term on‑site staff would be modest ("50 to 100" in total direct employment over time, with most work remote), and that construction employment would be episodic.

Next steps: The council approved the special permit with the landscape and screening commitments described on the record; applicants must finalize required safety and emergency plans and obtain any remaining approvals before building permits are issued.

Votes and formal action: Motion to act on the project carried 6–1 (Duden opposed).