Adelanto planning commission recommends city council approve 400‑MW Hidalgo battery storage project

The Adelanto Planning Commission on a unanimous roll call recommended that the City Council approve a location and development plan (LDP 24‑07), conditional use permit (CUP 24‑07) and development agreement (DA26‑01) to allow the Hidalgo battery energy storage project on a roughly 40‑acre parcel at the northeast corner of Raccoon Road and Holly Road.

Planner Jim Hirsch told the commission the proposal by Hidalgo Energy Storage LLC (developer Jupyter Power) would site up to 400 megawatts of battery energy storage and include a Southern California Edison (SCE) project substation. Hirsch said the project qualified for a CEQA §15183 consistency exemption, citing California Public Resources Code §21083.3 and CEQA Guidelines §15183, and recommended adoption of Planning Commission Resolution 26‑02 to forward those findings and the entitlements to city council.

The developer told the commission it is seeking to accelerate permitting to compete for transmission plan deliverability and commercial contracts. Kurt Nelson, development director for Jupyter, said the firm has a signed large generator interconnection agreement and expects to begin work on the SCE substation in 2027–2028, with commercial operation likely in the early 2030s if SCE and CAISO schedules hold. "Edison's timetable runs the show," Nelson said, adding the company had proposed earlier targets but remains constrained by utility and CAISO timelines.

The project package includes community and fee commitments. Hirsch and the applicant described an agreed package of developer contributions that the staff packet and presentations summarize as approximately $1,600,000 in development impact fees; Jupyter proposed a $1,000,000 community benefit assessment to be paid in two $500,000 installments (the first payment due within 120 days after issuance of the first building permits or within two years of the development‑agreement effective date, whichever occurs first, and the second payment upon project operation), plus a $100,000 expediting fee. City Attorney Tom Litvin confirmed those timing triggers during the meeting.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on safety, decommissioning and the city’s options if technology or market conditions change. Hirsch and Litvin said the agreement requires a best‑management practices plan, a site decommissioning and closure report with laboratory soil sampling and a performance bond sized by a city‑approved engineer’s estimate so the city would not be left with cleanup costs. Litvin said the development agreement term is 30 years — a term chosen for parity with prior large infrastructure projects and to give the city an opportunity to revisit the project later.

Several commissioners also raised concerns about interconnection and regional grid limits. The applicant and staff explained that because local substations are full the project must build a new SCE line‑break substation to interconnect; Nelson said the site is sited where LADWP and SCE transmission "meet," which makes it attractive for regional energy balancing but does not mean the project directly interconnects to LADWP. The applicant said it has coordinated with San Bernardino County Fire on conditions and will incorporate fire‑safety requirements into design and permit review.

Public comment included a telephone comment from Mayor Pro Tem Daniel Ramos, who identified himself as a resident and the city’s mayor pro tem and voiced support for the project, saying new projects increase leverage with SCE to expand local capacity.

Chair moved the recommendation to forward the CEQA exemption and entitlements to the City Council; after a roll call the planning commission voted yes on the recommendation. Jim Hirsch noted the ordinance tied to the development agreement is scheduled for City Council consideration on April 22 in the staff calendar.

The commission’s action is a formal recommendation to the City Council; it does not itself approve the development agreement or the ordinance. The City Council will make the final determinations and must adopt the ordinance and execute the development agreement before the entitlements take effect.