Planning commission urges council to consider local rules for battery energy storage after PSE comment

The Tumwater Planning Commission on May 26 recommended that the City Council "entertain the idea" of drafting local code for battery energy storage systems (BESS) after staff gave a concept-level briefing and Puget Sound Energy urged the city to add code to meet comprehensive-plan goals.

Christine Dunbar, representing Puget Sound Energy, urged the commission to amend Tumwater Municipal Code titles 8, 15 and 18 to support the comprehensive-plan climate and utilities elements and to create permitting pathways for residential, commercial and utility-scale BESS. "By 2030, the greater Northwest region ... will need 9 gigawatts of new power," Dunbar said, and PSE projects a need for "1,500 megawatts of energy storage alone," arguments she offered to justify local code that aligns with regional planning.

City staff — including Director of Community Development Brad Medvid and sustainability manager Alyssa Jones Wood — presented concept guidance rather than draft code, describing three scales (residential, medium nonresidential, and utility-scale), applicable safety and product standards (NFPA standards including NFPA 70 and NFPA 855, the National Electric Code, Washington State fire and building codes, Labor & Industries, and Underwriters Laboratories), and recommended measures such as setbacks, vegetation and "firewise" landscape management, screening and design standards, emergency management plans for utility-scale systems, and decommissioning and bonding requirements.

Staff said existing state and national rules address many technical safety issues but that local code can address siting, zoning, screening, and how the city coordinates with the fire marshal and Labor & Industries. "BESS are an important part of PSE's plan to provide the reliable power our customers expect," Christine Dunbar said in public comment. Staff added that they had consulted the fire chief and building official and that those offices "gave us the sign‑off on the recommendations" presented.

Commissioners pressed staff on safety and oversight. Questions included whether residential installations should be allowed in basements (the fire chief raised safety concerns for firefighter access), whether deep pilings or partial foundation reuse are covered in other items, where systems are manufactured (staff said it is a global market), and what incident history and liability implications exist. One commissioner cited Electric Power Research Institute figures (as summarized by the American Planning Association) noting 22 BESS fires in the U.S. since 2012 with seven in 2023, and commissioners asked staff to provide incident counts, injury reports, environmental impacts, and insurance/cost information for council materials.

Equity and siting concerns were also raised: commissioners said they favor colocating utility-scale systems near substations while protecting open-space, rural and high-density residential zones, manufactured-home parks and other vulnerable communities from adjacent siting without additional buffering or protections.

After the discussion Commissioner Kirkpatrick moved and Vice Chair Staff seconded a motion "to make a recommendation to council that they entertain the idea of writing a code on battery energy storage systems." The commission voted in favor and the motion passed; the transcript records the motion carried but does not record individual roll-call votes. Staff will carry the commission's recommendation to City Council for a briefing and will return with draft code only if council directs it.

Next steps: staff will brief City Council (staff referenced an upcoming council meeting and a June 9 follow-up) and will compile requested safety-incident data, cost/liability information, and suggested code language to inform council deliberations.