Resident urges district to engage on mile‑long battery storage project and community benefits meeting

Jackie Ayer, representing Save Our Rural Town, told the Acton‑Agua Dulce Unified School District board that a proposed lithium‑ion battery energy storage project running along Soledad Canyon Road would be “over a mile long” and is currently being reviewed by the California Energy Commission under AB 205. She asked that the district send a representative to a developer‑hosted community benefits meeting scheduled for May 19 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Acton Community Club.

Ayer described several safety and equity concerns if the project proceeds, including the proximity of homes “literally 90 feet from some of these facilities” and the potential release of toxic combustion products. “If just one cell burns and all of the fluorine that's present in the electrolyte vaporizes, it's probably 6,000 or several thousand pounds of hydrogen fluoride that are emitted,” she said, urging the community to push for benefits that reach Acton rather than distant entities.

Ayer said the town council and many local organizations oppose the project and have asked the developer to convene a single meeting that includes all community‑serving organizations and the school district so benefits are not used to “check the box” by funding outside labor groups or programs that do not serve Acton. Board members confirmed the May 19 meeting details and noted it is developer‑hosted, not a town council meeting; Ayer emphasized the community’s preference that any community benefits be apportioned for as long as the project’s impacts last.