CESA | 808 R Street, #209, Sacramento, CA 95811 | 916.231.2150 | www.storagealliance.org
May 6, 2025
Mayor Patino and City Council Members
Santa Maria City Council
110 E. Cook Street
Santa Maria, CA 93454
Transmitted via Email
RE: Item 7.b.1 – Adoption of No. 2025-01 – New Definition of BESS in Munipal Code
Dear Mayor Patino and City Council Members:
On behalf of the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA), I write to respectfully oppose the new Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) standards proposed for the City of Santa Maria.
Specifically, CESA objects to the requirement that BESS facilities shall not be located within 1,320 feet of a residential district, mixed-use residential district, school, hospital, or land used or zoned for agricultural cultivation whether within or outside of the City, as measured from the BESS property boundary. This represents a de facto moratorium on BESS within the city.
CESA is a 501(c)(6) membership-based advocacy group committed to advancing the role of energy storage in the electric power sector. We strive to advance a more affordable, efficient, reliable, safe, and sustainable electric power system for all Californians. CESA supports safety measures for BESS to protect public safety.
We understand that the recent incident in Moss Landing raises concerns. However, no injuries or outside property damage resulted from this incident. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has concluded community air monitoring operations after their testing determined there to be no risk to public health from air emissions. Testing of drinking water sources, surface water, and agricultural soils in the area have found no concentrations of metals or other contaminants that exceed public health thresholds. It is also important to understand that current BESS technologies are less susceptible to thermal runaway and that projects are designed using modular containers of batteries that inherently limit the potential severity of fires, if they do occur, to less than one percent of the battery capacity destroyed in the Moss Landing fire.
1 There are several reasons deployment of BESS should not be delayed.
Energy storage is essential for maintaining a reliable grid.
BESS is a crucial piece of the energy mix for California and local jurisdictions to meet their electric reliability and decarbonization goals. The thousands of megawatts (MW) of energy storage deployed since 2020 have played a critical role in preventing grid emergencies, despite 2024 being the hottest summer in California history.2 However, much more energy storage is needed. Thousands of additional MW of BESS will be necessary in the next few years to meet
1 California Energy Storage Alliance. Battery Energy Storage Technologies and Safety Standards Are Constantly Improving. https://40108211.fs1.hubspotusercontent-
na1.net/hubfs/40108211/safety/Evolution%20of%20BESS%20Tech%20and%20Standards.pdf 2 Storrow, Benjamin. “What Heatwave? Batteries Keep the Lights on in California.” E&E News. September 10, 2024. https://www.eenews.net/articles/what-heat-wave-batteries-keep-the-lights-on-in california-2/ 2 load growth due to electric vehicles and data centers. The state must retire thousands of MW of nuclear and ocean-cooled gas-fired power plants in the next few years.
Energy storage plays a key role in meeting state and local environmental goals.
BESS will play a critical role in helping the city’s electricity provider, Central Coast Community Energy, achieve its clean energy goals. The Governor’s Office estimates the state will need 52,000 MW of energy storage by 2045 to accomplish our greenhouse gas mitigation goals, but only 13,000 MW are currently operational.
3 Attaining these goals, which will help mitigate the
negative impact of fires, droughts, and floods due to climate change, depends on the aggressive deployment of BESS to store renewable energy for use when customers need it.
Safety is a key feature of BESS.
California has deployed over 13,000 megawatts (MW) of energy storage, including 187 utility- scale facilities and nearly 200,000 customer-sited residential and commercial systems. Although a few incidents of overheating or thermal runaway have occurred in California since 2021, they have resulted in no injuries. Additionally, no air, water, or soil analyses conducted during or after these incidents have found levels of contaminants of concern to public health. 4 CESA supports the development of emergency response plans, as established by Senate Bill 38 (Chapters 377, 2023). This law requires BESS owners and operators to work with local jurisdictions to develop comprehensive safety plans. Additionally, the California Public Utilities Commission recently adopted rules for a BESS inspection program. Together, these requirements ensure that BESS facilities adhere to the highest safety standards and that adequate safety protocols are in place. CESA supports reasonable development standards for BESS and respectfully urges you to direct staff to use publicly available regulations and models from other jurisdictions to develop BESS standards. We stand ready to be a technical resource and to continue to work with your staff to provide additional information and resources.
We respectfully urge you to reject this de facto moratorium on BESS facilities and work collaboratively with developers, fire officials, and the community to site this critical infrastructure, ensuring that adequate safety requirements are incorporated as part of the permitting process. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Scott Murtishaw
Executive Director, CESA
3 California Energy Commission. California Energy Storage System Survey. Data updated September 11, 2024. https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/california-electricity-data/california-energy-storage-system- survey
4 California Energy Storage Alliance. Studies of Battery Storage Fires Show No Public Health Impact. https://40108211.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/40108211/safety/CESA%20Fact%20Sheet%202025%20- %20Environmental%20Public%20Health%20-%20ISSUU.pdf