HomeMy WebLinkAboutNicola_Robinson_Letter_for_tonight_briefing_20220706_AttachmentJuly 6th Planning Commission Breifing.
BRIEFING-DOCKET 17 GROUP B
D-214: Battery Energy Storage Systems (Staff Report: Pages 8-12).
Residents of this community, Maplewood Glen, across from the River View Park on the Maple
Valley Road, want to thank the current administration, Mayor Pavone, City Council and city staff
for the thoroughness of the briefing to be presented to the ‘Planning Commission’ this evening.
Although the purpose of this briefing does not deal specifically with land use issues, the
document does touch on the more appropriate location for this kind of facility would be; Medium
Industrial or Heavy Industrial.
We agree that Recourse Conservation designation, and LDSF zoning is non-conforming to such
an installation.
The briefing document also summarizes recent issues around the safety of BESS, referencing
overheating, fires, toxic gases being released, software malfunctions as well as pollution of the
environment, and the extreme challenge of extinguishing battery fires.
We might surmise, as a result of the above noted elements being included in the briefing, that
our concerns about building such a facility 50’ from a residential community are valid.
The proposed facility would house lithium-ion energy batteries to support regional electrification
efforts by receiving energy from the PSE Talbot Hill Substation, storing the energy on site, and
then later discharging the energy as needed.
PSE has stated in the ‘Energize Eastside EIS,’ study, that Northern Bellevue will Experience
blackouts as a result of a deficit of this resource. Also that energy would be transferred from the
proposed BESS near our community to the Renton’s Talbot Hill Substation, and then transferred
to Bellevue, to the new Richards Creek substation, in addition to energy from the substation in
Redmond.
Bellevue is constructing a new substation, the Richards Creek Substation as a partial solution to
this shortfall, but I am not aware of any plans by Bellevue to build a ‘Grid Sized’ Battery Energy
Storage System to transfer stored energy to its new sub-station, as the final piece of the solution
to the shortfall in North Bellevue?
My question is; does Bellevue have any plans to have a Battery Energy Storage System within
city boundaries?
If, as I understand the situation regarding the adequacy of access to electrical energy in Renton
which has numerous sources for power, with no projected shortfall, why are we being asked to
firstly sacrifice our safety, security and open spaces here in Renton, and secondly the fact that
the proposal being put forward is totally inappropriate for the location in question.
Thank you again to the current Renton administration for hearing our concerns, and for the
thoroughness with which this briefing document has been produced.
Nicola Robinson
The importance of transitioning to clean, non-carbon producing energy is universally
understood.