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Residents urge Thurston County to impose moratorium on utility‑scale battery storage siting
Summary
Multiple residents urged the board to pause permitting and siting of utility‑scale battery energy storage systems in South Thurston County until countywide standards for setbacks, plume modeling, emergency response and long‑term liability are adopted; petitioners said they submitted roughly 1,800 signatures.
Several residents asked the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners to enact an immediate pause on permitting and siting of utility‑scale battery energy storage systems in rural and unincorporated South Thurston County.
Casey Taylor said the petition requests an immediate moratorium to allow development of clear safety standards, setbacks, environmental impact assessments, plume modeling and emergency response and fire suppression planning before any further approvals are granted. Taylor said they already submitted approximately 1,800 petition signatures and asked the board to place the issue on a future agenda.
Bonnie Helms, who said she is party of record on an upcoming appeal, urged a temporary pause so the county can develop consistent, legally defensible standards for fire response, environmental review, plume modeling, setbacks, emergency planning and remediation liability. She warned that removing the board from the appeal process could shift expensive litigation costs to community members.
Board members did not take action on a moratorium at the meeting. Staff reminded the public that comments about the specific project before the board in the pending appeal were not permitted during general public comment because the board will act in a quasi‑judicial role on that appeal the following day.
