The City of Morro Bay is looking at ways to regulate any future battery projects that may come to the city.
“I feel it’s important we have this discussion regarding the fact that we don’t have anything within our codes for guidelines to projects of this nature,” said City Councilmember Cyndee Edwards at a recent meeting.
With no specific standards for battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects right now, if a new project like this were to be proposed, there would be no set regulations on where it could be located.
“We have such a small town. It’s very elongated but compact narrowly so any place is almost next to a residence, school, or church,” said Betty Winholtz, Morro Bay resident.
Earlier this month, the city council directed staff to explore an urgency ordinance.
“The urgency ordinance would stop any apps from coming in to give the city time to study whether it wants to do a permanent moratorium or to regulate,” said City Attorney Chris Neumeyer.
If approved, this would establish up to a two-year ban on BESS projects. During that two-year period, the council could adopt a permanent moratorium or an ordinance to regulate future BESS projects.
“That’s very important,” said Shary Goulart, Morro Bay resident.
However, this would not stop potential applicants from going to the state for approval under AB 205, as Vistra recently did.
“The urgency ordinance will give the community peace of mind that a battery project will not be processed at the City level until the City is able to study this relatively new and rapidly changing technology and develop appropriate regulations to protect Morro Bay’s residents and visitors,” explained Community Development Director Airlin Singewald.
KSBY News reporter Sophia Villalba spoke with several people in the community about future BESS proposals coming to their city and none were in favor of these types of projects.
“Everybody loves to come here. You don’t want to do anything to make people not want to come here,” said Joel Markatello, Los Osos resident.
Morro Bay’s mayor says it’s all about the location.
“I think we need to take an action. None of us want to see this next to our home. This goes back to not opposing battery storage or renewable opportunities — I think our community is on board in the renewables — but it’s about location, location, location,” said Mayor Carla Wixom.
City staff is working to develop the urgency ordinance and bring it back to the city council for approval in January.
