DATE:
December 10, 2024
30
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM (BESS) PROJECTS IN UNINCORPORATED AREAS AND CEQA FINDINGS (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
Last May, San Diego County Fire (County Fire) responded to the 17-day Gateway Fire at a battery energy storage systems (BESS) facility in East Otay Mesa. Following the incident, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved $250,000 in the Fiscal Year 2024-26 CAO Recommended Operational Plan Change Letter for County Fire to contract with a fire protection engineering firm to provide a BESS fire safety best practices report with policy recommendations for new and existing facilities in the unincorporated area (Attachment A). On July 17, 2024 (8), the Board directed the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to work with in-process BESS project applicants on development standards for siting BESS projects in the unincorporated area and develop options to incentivize safety. While that work continues, the Board directed exploring interim standards and other stopgap measures to ensure safety.
On September 11, 2024 (5), the Board received an update on upcoming short-term actions and longer-term efforts on development standards that would be presented to the Board in the future. At the meeting, the Board directed the CAO to have County Fire analyze appropriate residential buffer distances based on plume modeling and develop a plan for BESS facilities, report to the Board in 45 days with an interim update and return with a plan to the Board by December 11, 2024.
On November 12, 2024, the draft BESS Best Practices report was released for public comment and a community listening session was held on November 14, 2024. Since then, County Fire has developed Interim Fire Protection Guidelines for BESS Facilities (Attachment B) for addressing the fire and life safety of BESS projects within the San Diego County Fire Protection District (SDCFPD). The proposed plan inc...
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