ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — Escondido's city council will discuss new safety guidelines for battery storage facilities at Tuesday's meeting, following a 2024 fire at a local San Diego Gas and Electric facility that forced hundreds to evacuate.
The city currently has a moratorium prohibiting new commercial battery storage facilities within city limits. Mayor Dane White says the city plans to lift that moratorium and replace it with stricter safety regulations — ones that would push future facilities to the outskirts of town, away from homes, businesses and schools.
Lisa Coast, who has owned Home Sweet Home Cafe on Enterprise Street in Escondido for 16 years, was working when the fire broke out just across the street.
"We just noticed the darkness outside. We walked outside. We noticed a fire truck pull up. It smelled horrible and we knew it was dangerous because it was just the worst smell ever," Coast said.
The fire displaced hundreds of residents and kept people on edge for days. White said the disruption was significant.
"The safety when Escondido's battery energy storage facility caught fire, there were hundreds, if not over 1000 people who were affected by that, whether they were parents and students at the schools in the area, business owners, or just residents. I think that evacuation was in effect for anywhere from 3 to 7 days and really disrupted things," White said.
Following the fire, city leaders took a hard look at regulations and what would best protect neighborhoods. The new rules could also impact residents' fire insurance.
White said the goal is to ensure future facilities are located far from populated areas.
"For Escondido, we were thinking we're going to put in strict enough regulations that the only place they could probably go is on the outskirts of town," White said.
Coast said she is not opposed to new facilities but agreed they should be kept away from densely populated areas.
"That should be out in the desert or somewhere where there's not a lot of people because it's just dangerous," Coast said.
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