San Diego, CA
Recent fires spark concern over Lithium Battery Storage facilities
Some county leaders are considering a moratorium after a couple of fires have broken out at battery storage facilities across the county. The most recent one happened Thursday in Escondido, evacuating hundreds of residents and businesses.
Nancy Jennings lives in Escondido, just a few miles from the SDG&E Lithium-Ion Battery Facility that caught fire. She was forced out of her home Thursday due to a power outage.
She said an SDG&E representative told her extreme heat caused the power to go out.
“When I had called SDC and spoke to their representative, she had checked with, her people there, and what they told her was that the fire had damaged SDC is equipment and that was why the outage and why it took so long to repair, because it was over 12 hours,” Jennings said.
SDG&E has not confirmed a connection between the fire and the power outage at Nancy’s home.
However, Nancy said she relies on power for survival.
“Appliances. Who cares? I can do with. I can’t do without my oxygen,” she said.
Nancy said even before the fire broke out at the SDG&E facility, she and many of her neighbors have opposed these battery facilities in their community.
“It’s just too dangerous,” Jennings said.
County Supervisor Jim Desmond for District 5 expressed a similar sentiment.
“We’re getting way too many fires from these types of battery storage facilities and we need to get some more, unfortunately some more regulations in place to make sure they’re safe,” Supervisor Desmond said.
On Wednesday, the county board of Supervisors is going to consider guidelines and a potential moratorium on the battery energy storage facilities.
Supervisor Desmond said the moratorium would only apply to Battery Systems that need county permits.
He said of the nearly 50 battery storage facilities across San Diego County, about 80 percent don’t require county permitting because they get approval through the California Public Utilities Commission.
“I don’t think a moratorium is required, but I do recommend that communities like Poway due the level of detail that Poway did,” Kevin Smith, CEO of Arevon Energy said.
Arevon Energy is a company that owns six operating battery storage facilities and has additional facilities in development, including one in Poway.
“We’ve got state of the art technology. A perfect track record on safety on our energy storage projects,” Smith said.
Smith said Battery storage facilities build grid stability, reduce brown outs and black outs, and facilitate renewable energy onto the system.
However, Supervisor Desmond said more regulations should be considered to ensure the safety of the community.
“We have to put some sort of safeguards in place to where any new ones have to have the latest and greatest technology for fire suppression, fire detection, and we have to make sure that those work,” Desmond said.
Especially, since another energy storage project has been proposed right around the corner from Nancy’s home.
“They need to figure out a better solution. It does not belong in this valley or anywhere near residences,” she said.
In a statement to NBC 7, SDG&E said in part, “Over the coming weeks, the Escondido Fire Department and SDG&E will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
San Diego taxpayers are subsidizing the short-term rental industry’s trash collection under the People’s Ordinance. The 2017 letter from the city attorney to Councilmember Zapf is crystal clear: transient occupancy (rentals under 30 days) generates “nonresidential refuse.”
The city is prohibited from providing free weekly collection to these units. Yet, thousands of whole-home STRs continue to receive curbside service at taxpayer expense. Measure B (2022) modernized funding but left the core definition intact — transient rentals remain ineligible for city residential service.
Requiring owners to arrange and pay for private hauling would shift the full cost off the general fund. With roughly 7,954 active licenses, and residential collection costing about $520 per unit annually, the city could save approximately $4.1 million a year. That money could repair streets, fund public safety or lower taxes for actual residents. Enforce the ordinance as written.
— Gary Wonacott, San Diego
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — As the Muslim community prepares to celebrate Eid al-Adha next month, a San Diego teenager is working to bring comfort and joy to children impacted by the recent tragedy at the Islamic Center of San Diego.
Seventeen-year-old Sarah Abdin spent the past week fundraising, shopping and assembling nearly 100 Eid goodie bags for students at the mosque’s elementary school.
While many teenagers are focused on final exams, Abdin said she spent some nights working until 2 a.m. to make sure every bag was ready in time for the school’s upcoming graduation celebration.
The project was inspired by the recent shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego, where children were present during the incident. Abdin, who attended the mosque as a child, said hearing about what students experienced motivated her to take action.
Each bag contains a variety of treats, activities and gifts intended to help children celebrate Eid, one of the most important holidays in Islam.
Abdin said community members quickly rallied behind the effort, helping raise funds and support the project. After days of shopping and preparation, she and her sister spent several hours assembling the bags ahead of delivery.
The goodie bags are expected to be distributed during the elementary school’s graduation festivities in early June.
Abdin said she hopes the gesture serves as a reminder that the children are surrounded by a community that cares about them and stands beside them during difficult times.
The fundraising effort received widespread support, helping cover the cost of the goodie bags and allowing organizers to expand their reach to more students.
How interesting that Donald Trump is deporting Brown people who pay taxes and contribute to our economy (though they will never reap any benefits from those taxes) and instead is using our tax money to import and set up South Africans (none of whom are anything but White) who have never contributed to our economy. Could skin color perhaps have something to do with this policy?
— Nita Herpolsheimer, San Diego
-
Ohio6 minutes agoOhio woman broke into ex’s home while he was sleeping, started shooting: police
-
Oklahoma8 minutes agoH-E-B hooks up eight Spurs Jackals superfans with tickets to Game 7 in Oklahoma City!
-
Oregon14 minutes agoCruise ship rescues stranded mariner off Oregon coast
-
Pennsylvania21 minutes agoMan accused of using excavator to destroy home with family inside
-
Rhode Island23 minutes agoRhode Island high school yearbook printed with the word ‘school’ misspelled on its cover: ‘Shocking to see’
-
South-Carolina29 minutes agoSouth Carolina Democrats celebrate redistricting win as governor hopefuls clash
-
South Dakota36 minutes agoSouth Dakota’s annual History Conference returns to Fort Pierre
-
Tennessee38 minutes agoABC broadcast goes out during Tennessee softball vs Texas Tech in WCWS
