The big picture
The advisory group creation comes after Katy City Council denied a special use permit last October for Texas-based energy supplier Vesper Energy to build a 24-acre battery energy storage station, or BESS, Community Impact reported.
A BESS is a facility of batteries that collects and stores excess energy and sells it back to the electric grid—run statewide by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas—when more power is needed, officials previously said.
Multiple residents pushed back at the proposal at the time, citing concerns of the site’s location, environmental impacts and potential safety risks, Community Impact reported.
A closer look
Following the denial, city staff worked to create proposed regulations for potential battery systems by reviewing 14 comparable cities in the state, including several Houston-area cities, City Planner Rachel Lazo said.
The proposed regulations would require BESS facilities to be at least one mile from each other, be at least 750 feet from a single-family home, and complete a noise study if the facility will be within 1,000 feet of residential, Lazo said.
Lazo said other proposed regulations include:
- A heightened application fee
- Requiring third-party expert proposal review
- Enhancing fire and resident safety, including a water containment plan, air monitoring system and training for the Katy Fire Department
- 24/7 remote monitoring
- Creating a decommissioning plan
- Paying the city in lieu of taxes
Several council members, including Gina Hicks, said they want to further study battery storage facilities’ proximity to residential areas to ensure residents are unaffected by the potential facilities.
“I feel like an advisory group is necessary to have experts because we can say 750 feet sounds like a great idea or we can say that is too close, but we’re not experts, and we don’t really know the impact that there could be,” Hicks said. “We’re just throwing around ideas honestly up here.”
Looking ahead
An exact group of experts and a timeline hasn’t been established, Lazo said. The group will review the staff’s proposal and create recommendations ahead of an ordinance appearing before City Council to approve the finalized regulations.
“These battery [facilities], they’re coming everywhere they can, ... so it’s best if we get this done as soon as we can,” council member Rory Robertson said.
