San Diego Supervisors learned a key lesson Tuesday: Their fire chief can impose stricter fire safety rules on battery storage projects without their blessing.
And that’s just what San Diego County Fire Chief Tony Mecham will do until the state updates California’s fire code related to renewable energy battery installations.
“The Fire Chief for the San Diego County Fire Protection District has the authority to … make additional requirements on projects to adequately address public safety, fire suppression and firefighter protection,” wrote Jeff Collins, director of San Diego County Fire in a statement.
Battery developers [were wringing their hands](https://voiceofsandiego.org/2024/12/09/green-energy-experts-call-proposed-battery-regulations-de-facto-moratorium/) over the proposed rules claiming they would render projects infeasible. Collins went on to say that those rules “capture county fire’s expectations for proposed battery projects” until the national and state fire codes get updated.
So, it seems developers should expect to make changes to their project’s design and it remains unclear whether some will back out altogether because they won’t pencil under new rules.
Originally, the board of supervisors met Tuesday to vote on some proposed rules until lawmakers learned the fire chief can do that on his own. It was a “what’s our role” moment for the board which ultimately voted to simply accept a report from their fire district on suggested ways to provide more space around and between battery cells and ease residents’ concerns.