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Community group urges board to oppose three proposed battery storage projects
Summary
At the Aug. 28 special meeting, Ruthie Brock of Act and Takes Action urged the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District board to press developers to direct community benefits to local recipients and warned that three proposed battery energy storage projects pose health, safety and property-value risks.
Ruthie Brock, director of Act and Takes Action, spoke during public comment to oppose three proposed battery energy storage systems (BESS) near Acton. She named three projects — Humidor, Matai and Prairie Song — and said Prairie Song would store about 1,150 megawatts across roughly 70 acres in shipping-sized containers. Brock urged the district to seek legally binding community-benefit agreements that prioritize local recipients, including the school district.
"We believe these battery energy storage projects would bring great harm to our community with health and safety risks negatively affecting our property values and threatening our rural lifestyle," Brock said. She added that if the projects proceed, the community wants any required community benefits to be “appropriately directed to provide the most benefit to our community with our school district being at the top of that list." The speaker said one of the projects (Humidor) already received LA County approval and is being challenged in superior court.
Why it matters: developers proposing large energy-storage facilities often must address local community-benefit obligations; school districts can be named as potential recipients of funding or services. Board members thanked Brock and invited further conversation with district leaders about how the district might be involved in community-benefits discussions.
