Spokane Valley enacts one-year interim ban on battery energy storage systems

Spokane Valley adopted an emergency interim ordinance Feb. 3 that temporarily prohibits battery energy storage systems (BESS) within city limits for up to one year while staff and the planning commission study safety and land-use regulations.

City Attorney Kelly Concrete told council the technology is relatively new to land-use codes and has documented fire risks when thermal-runaway events occur in lithium-ion systems. “These fires can last for days,” Concrete said, describing incidents nationally and the need to ensure safe siting, permitting and mitigation before facilities locate in the city.

The ordinance was presented as an interim measure that would pause any full applications and allow the city to fold code changes into its ongoing periodic comprehensive-plan update. Council Member Merkel proposed shortening the interim period to six months to accelerate review; the attempted amendment received no second and the original one-year interim ordinance was adopted.

Supporters said the pause avoids a short window in which a complete application could vest under the current unregulated code; opponents and some council members urged careful balancing of business impacts and process timelines. Attorney Concrete said the pause is not permanent: staff will bring proposed permanent regulations through the planning process and return findings to council before the interim ordinance expires.

Council also directed staff to hold a public hearing as part of the periodic update and to try to return permanent code language for consideration before the interim expiration.