Snoqualmie residents press council to pause proposed battery storage project; council schedules special meeting

Dozens of Snoqualmie residents urged the City Council on April 13 to pause permitting and urge stronger environmental review of a proposed utility‑scale battery energy storage project near the Mount Sai Substation.

The public comment period drew repeated pleas for a moratorium or postponement on siting decisions. ‘‘Call a special meeting. Bring forward a temporary moratorium on [battery energy storage systems] within the city and its point of interconnection to the Mount Sai Substation because of our safety, land use, and regulation concerns,’’ said Danielle Wallace, a Snoqualmie resident who described reviewing county and developer filings.

Speakers described safety and emergency‑response worries, potential long‑term loss of developable land, and liability limits proposed by the developer. ‘‘Placing a 45‑acre industrial‑scale battery facility on that land does not just introduce risk, it removes opportunity permanently,’’ said Melody Correa, a Snoqualmie resident and director at Snoqualmie Valley for Responsible Energy, referring to the city’s comprehensive planning obligations under the Growth Management Act. Peter Lully, also with the community group, urged a pause in the permitting process: ‘‘A moratorium is what daylight looks like in an ordinance form.’’

Council members debated how best to respond. Council member Cotton moved that the council formally request permitting authorities require a SEPA determination of significance and a full environmental impact statement for the site. After members discussed legal timing and the risk of prejudging an application, the motion failed on a 2–3 vote. The motion’s text, as stated on the record, asked the council to ‘‘make a formal request that the [site] warrants a thorough environmental study, including a determination of significance and a full environmental‑impact statement to go on the record.’’

Rather than the EIS request, Council member Murphy proposed — and the council approved — a special roundtable to continue the conversation. Council members refined scheduling and format repeatedly; the final agreement, recorded on the floor, sets a special meeting with an executive session followed by a brief open session to discuss battery energy storage and related matters and to receive legal counsel and expert input.

City staff said the administration and legal team are researching discrete procedural steps the city can take and that outside counsel and technical experts will be engaged as needed. Council members emphasized a desire to balance public transparency with legal and procedural constraints; several said they want to provide timely updates to residents.

Next steps: the council scheduled the special roundtable and directed staff to prepare materials and, where appropriate, bring technical and legal briefings to the meeting. No formal permitting action was taken by the council at this meeting.