SAN MARCOS — The San Marcos City Council may take a formal position opposing the proposed Seguro battery storage project just outside its city limits as the city researches its potential impacts on local residents.
At a Sept. 24 meeting, council members Sharon Jenkins and Mike Sannella co-sponsored a resolution on the agenda stating that the city opposes the Seguro project, planned for the unincorporated area of Eden Valley between the borders of Escondido and San Marcos.
The project has drawn strong pushback from residents in Eden Valley and Escondido due to the possibility of battery fires at a site surrounded by residences — the closest home is just over 100 feet away — and 1,600 feet from Palomar Medical Center.
Jenkins and Councilmember María Nuñez supported a motion to adopt the resolution as presented on Tuesday, stating that it is important to protect residents.
“I think we can best represent our residents and our neighbors by opposing this. It’s really simple,” said Jenkins.
However, a council majority of Sannella, Mayor Rebecca Jones and Councilmember Ed Musgrove voted to table the resolution, stating that it was drafted too quickly and needed more solid facts and research to back it up.
“My gut tells me this Seguro plant is in the wrong location, and that the safeguards are not in place today to protect our community,” said Sannella. “I think there’s an opportunity to support our residents on this important matter, but I want a resolution that is fact-based and also has a little more hardiness to it than one or two sentences.”
City staff will bring the resolution back to the council sometime in the future after gathering more information about the project’s risks and speaking with fire and law enforcement personnel.
Proposed by energy company AES Corporation, the project would store 320 megawatts, or 1,280 megawatt hours, enough to power 240,000 homes for four hours. It would connect to the local power grid through a new substation on-site, linked to the SDG&E Escondido Substation via transmission lines.
The site would also be approximately 1,600 feet from La Moree Estates Mobile Home Park along the San Marcos city border and approximately 3,200 feet from the city’s Coronado Hills neighborhood above Eden Valley.
Jones said she would support creating battery storage safety guidelines for San Marcos in case a project is proposed within city limits. However, she believes Seguro falls outside the city’s purview.
“I am very concerned about having a battery plant, storage plant, that we don’t have any information about, but I feel also very passionate about staying in our lane, and I have to stick with that,” Jones said.
Because the site is on unincorporated land, the county will make the decision about the project. Earlier this month, the county Board of Supervisors adopted new regulations for battery storage facilities, with requirements for fire suppression technical reports and/or disclosures to ensure systems go “above and beyond” current code requirements.
Their decision came just days after a fire broke out at an SDG&E battery storage facility in Escondido, sparking further concerns about the safety of these facilities. The fire was contained to just one of the site’s 24 cells and burned out on its own, but it did require the evacuation of several businesses and the closure of several schools near the industrial area.
Several speakers at the San Marcos City Council meeting noted that the Seguro project could do much more damage.
“Seguro would be 10 times the size of the BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) that recently caught fire in Escondido,” said Eden Valley resident Phyllis Laderman. “Even though Seguro would not be located within the city of San Marcos, these fires would directly impact the city. Palomar Hospital would have to shelter in place, as it’s only 1,600 ft from the proposed site. Then where would the residents of San Marcos go for their emergencies, surgeries and medical care?”
Residents also noted that San Marcos could be affected by fire, fumes, and water contamination if a large fire breaks out at Seguro. Others argued that it falls within the city’s scope because the area where the project is located is served by the San Marcos Fire Protection District, which the San Marcos Fire Department supports.
“This decision is in the county’s jurisdiction. However, cities are part of the county — they also have a say, they also have a license to give perspective on whether something that happens in the county is going to impact them,” said JP Theberge, a Harmony Grove resident opposed to the battery storage project.
Earlier this month, one week before the fire, the Escondido City Council approved a resolution opposing large battery storage facilities within and near city limits.
BESS facilities have been identified as a way to meet San Diego County’s climate action goals, as they store energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar. However, the risks of this project far outweigh the potential benefits, said Escondido resident Joe Rowley, who has spent 24 years developing battery storage projects and other energy infrastructure.
“I’m a supporter of BESS projects, I’m a supporter of moving toward a solar-based economy. But projects like Seguro give the industry a black eye, and they create a backlash against what a lot of us are trying to achieve,” said Rowley.
