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 council to “pass a resolution against this facility” and consider ordinances setting minimum distances from homes and schools.

Multiple speakers pointed to recent high-profile incidents at large BESS facilities, including the Moss Landing event in California, to illustrate potential consequences. “We don’t need to guess,” Luke Murzyak said, referencing evacuations and contamination at Moss Landing. Others described local, recent home-battery fires and noted that containment and cleanup can be lengthy and complex. Several speakers urged a SEPA determination of significance and a full environmental impact statement (EIS) by King County before permitting proceeds.

Public-health concerns were raised by residents and a local physician. “The CDC specifically warns that children are at greater risk,” Ariel Castle said, citing federal research about hydrogen fluoride releases during lithium battery fires and asking who would pay for long-term health monitoring and compensation if neighbors were exposed. Dr. Sarah Hayam, a family physician, asked whether local hospitals have the equipment and training needed to care for inhalation and chemical-exposure casualties.

Speakers also raised planning and economic issues: neighbors and local planners said siting an industrial-scale BESS in a constrained valley and near residential neighborhoods runs counter to common land-use practice; a former industry executive and a local realtor warned of precedent-setting effects and potential property-value and insurance impacts. Brock Brady said Jupiter Power’s tax-revenue projections (discussed at the meeting as roughly $780,000–$1,000,000 annually in early years) should not be relied on as a reason to accept the project.

The council acknowledged it lacks permit authority for unincorporated King County land but discussed several concrete next steps. Mayor Mayhew said the administration would compile testimony and “use the authority you’ve given me to contract with outside resources” because in-house staff capacity is limited; he said he could contract up to $50,000 without additional council approval and expected to seek further council action to retain subject-matter experts. Council members asked staff to prioritize SEPA/EIS questions, critical-areas and watershed impacts, emergency-response feasibility, franchise and interconnection issues (the developer proposes to interconnect at the Mount Sai substation inside the city), and examples of how other municipalities handled similar proposals.

Council member Johnson moved—and the council approved—referral of the battery energy storage topic to the Finance & Administration committee for detailed follow-up, including administrative fact-finding and recommended actions the council might take. Earlier in the meeting the council also confirmed the appointment of Kim Egalvie as city clerk.

Speakers asked the council to consider several specific actions: pass a formal city resolution opposing the project, request that King County require a full EIS and independent third-party review, convene public meetings with the developer and county staff, explore ordinances limiting siting near schools and water sources, and investigate annexation or other jurisdictional tools where legally feasible.

The council did not take any permitting or regulatory action that night; instead, it directed staff to gather the testimony and technical questions, procure outside expertise as needed, and return to the Finance & Administration committee with a work plan and recommendations. Mayor Mayhew said the administration would publish the compiled comments and subsequent staff findings for public review. The council adjourned after referring the matter for committee consideration.