Snoqualmie residents urge council to oppose nearby Jupiter Power battery-storage site; city refers issue to finance committee

Dozens of residents packed Snoqualmie City Hall on March 23 to urge city leaders to oppose a proposed Jupiter Power battery energy storage system (BESS) planned on nearby unincorporated King County land, raising safety, environmental and economic concerns that prompted the council to compile testimony, hire outside expertise and send the issue to the Finance & Administration committee for further review.

At the start of the meeting, Mayor Mayhew explained that the project sits in unincorporated King County and that the council could not act as the permitting authority that evening, but said the council would record and review public comments. “Every comment will then be extracted into a document that tells us every comment, every request that was made,” he said, promising the administration would convert testimony into a list of questions and requests for follow-up by staff and council.

Residents repeatedly cited fire risk, toxic off-gassing, groundwater contamination, limited evacuation routes, and proximity to schools and parks. Chris Berglund, who said his wife had gathered roughly 1,700 petition signatures, warned that the project would expose neighbors to “fire and an off-gassing of fairly lethal gases” and asked the…