FAIRFIELD -- Could it be that a resident-driven 1984 policy vision to protect agricultural lands from housing expansion could become the policy that keeps battery energy storage systems off farmland, too?
Measure T could provide that prohibition without what would probably be unlikely voter approval.
That is if the county can finalize an ordinance banning BESS facilities from ag lands in Solano County; that the ordinance is approved by the Board of Supervisors; and is implemented before Corby Energy Storage LLC completes its application for a Solano facility with the California Energy Commission.
Corby, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources LLC, is proposing to create a 300-megawatt battery energy storage system on a 40-acre parcel of agricultural land south of Kilkenny Road and west of Byrnes Road, close to PG&E's Vaca-Dixon Substation.
The substation is an ideal location for the companies because it would take less infrastructure to tie into the grid and move the energy when desired.
There are actually two projects going through the state commission - and around the county's approval. Neither application is deemed to be complete at this time.
"We would not be in the predicament at all if the Legislature did not go around us and create a loophole for these companies," board Chairman Mitch Mashburn said.
He urged everyone to contact their state representatives to support Assembly Bill 303, which restores BESS permitting to local jurisdictions.
County Counsel Bernadette Curry said the staff will "move heaven and earth" to get the proposed ordinance back to the board by Sept. 10.
If introduced then, the board could vote on it by its next meeting. If approved, it would go into effect 31 days later.
There is, however, a caveat.
The state Energy Commission, while it has shown a proclivity to consider local standards and even denied a project in Shasta County on similar grounds, is not obligated to do so.
James Bezek, director of the Department of Resource Management, said the staff is trying to construct a balanced ordinance that convinces the energy companies to work with the county.
"We are trying to create an ordinance that is not overly restrictive so (energy companies) don't want to go to the state," Bezek said.
That could be important to get support from the Energy Commission, too.
The discussion on moving the ordinance forward followed a public-driven discussion on BESS facilities in the county. Those opinions ranged from an outright moratorium, to banning the more volatile lithium-based systems to crafting an ordinance that protects residents, key infrastructure such as schools and hospitals and protects agriculture lands.
The option recommended by the staff is a "prohibition on prime agricultural land, unique agricultural land, and land of statewide importance."
It was suggested that prohibition could be expanded to all ag lands. Many in the room believe a BESS system should be limited to appropriate industrial properties.
"Our society, our world is moving toward this; we need this ... but it is too early to normalize this," Victoria Serr, a Vacaville resident, told the board.
She said the facilities should be located in areas that are safe until the technology to make them safer catches up.
The ordinance would also keep such facilities from high- or very high-fire hazard zones; nor would they be allowed within FEMA-designated floodplains unless raised to at least 2 feet above base flood elevation.
The proposed ordinance also sets forth property boundary setbacks - though generally believed not far enough by those who spoke at the meeting - and a host of safety measures that must be met to get approval.
High on the priority list for the supervisors was provisions to make sure that the energy firm is responsible for paying for 100% of necessary equipment for fire departments, hospitals and other entities in the event of an accident at the facility.
Moreover, there was discussion of a victims fund to pay for 100% of current and future costs related to an incident, including environmental impacts.
Another theme that emerged is the desire to know what benefits Solano County is going to get from such a project for the risks that the county is taking by having them here.
Impacts on land values, insurance costs and host of other questions were raised, too.