The California Energy Commission is reviewing a proposal for a lithium battery storage facility in the San Juan Capistrano hills adjacent to the 5 Freeway that has been opposed by local cities and residents.
A 250-megawatt battery energy storage system, or BESS, would be built to collect excess energy from the power grid, store it and discharge it during peak needs times. There are more than 100 such facilities in Southern California, including in Orange County.
Compass Energy Storage, a subsidiary of Engie North America, first sent a letter with its proposal to the city of San Juan Capistrano in 2021.
The city’s zoning did not have regulations specifically addressing such storage systems and the City Council has since opposed rezoning the property, which is owned by Saddleback Church, so the company is foregoing the city’s permit process and instead seeking the state agency’s approval.
The Compass project is among the first to go through the state process created by a 2022 law that broadened the energy commission’s authority to facilitate renewable energy projects in support of California’s goal of achieving 100% clean energy by 2045.
“The reason developers can come to the CEC is because California is trying to meet its goal of being 100% clean by 2048,” said Stacey Shepard, a spokesperson for the commission. “Battery storage is super critical, that’s why these projects are cropping up.”
According to the commission’s records, Compass applied in April, and as recently as Oct. 7, some data and technical issues with its application still needed addressing. Once the application is complete, a 270-day environmental review kicks off, which includes extensive public outreach in the affected communities, according to the new law.
If the project were approved by the end of 2025, work onsite could begin in 2026, and it would be operational by 2027, Engie officials said.
The storage facility would be located on 13 acres of a former ranch that fronts Camino Capistrano, the railroad tracks and the freeway. Engie is purchasing 41 acres of the 170 acres Saddleback Church owns there, the sale is nearly complete, though it is unclear what the power company would do if the state commission does not approve the project. The remaining acres surrounding it will become preserved open space, including trails.
The project would connect to the existing San Diego Gas & Electric electric transmission system to transfer power to and from the battery system and provide power, especially from 4 to 9 p.m., when the state’s grid is most stressed, Engie officials said. Batteries can help reduce the risk of rolling power outages and replace the use of natural gas to generate electricity during those critical hours when power use is at its highest.
Engie officials said they have already considered 17 other sites in Orange County and there is no other good alternative.
The site was selected because it’s ideally located near the power grid and wouldn’t require running long transmission lines through neighborhoods, said Renee Robin, director of permitting and planning for Engie North America. That proximity also means there is the ability to absorb 100% of the project’s energy, she added.
“The project will charge from the grid when excess cheap renewable energy is available, and discharge during high-cost peak hours, creating cost efficiencies,” Robin said, adding that it would also reduce dependence on gas power plants, lower carbon emissions and improve air quality.
“This is especially relevant given that energy demand in this area is projected to double in the coming years, according to SDG&E,” she said. “The alternative solution to meeting the demand increase would be to establish more gas-powered peaker plants.”
But locals have been raising concerns about the proposal and formed the group Banning Lithium Energy Storage Systems in Neighborhoods, or B.L.E.S.S.I.N.
Most recently, the group hosted an information night last week at the Laguna Niguel Community Center – the city has residential neighborhoods less than a half-mile from the site – attended by about 300 people. At the meeting, group leaders announced they had secured nonprofit status.
While they support renewable energy, the residents said they are unhappy with the battery site being so close to their community, voicing concerns about noise, ugly infrastructure, traffic congestion, potential pollutants and fires reported at some other facilities, including thermal runaway where systems overheat, ignite and spread from one battery to another.
“No one involved on the other side of the aisle will give us 100% assurance that a thermal runaway will never happen at the San Juan Capistrano facility,” said Michael McGrady, a San Juan Capistrano resident who said he lives less than 1,000 feet from the proposed site.
Cathleen Pryor is especially concerned about any fire danger because of the open space and hillsides that surround the location and the nearby neighborhoods, including her Laguna Heights community. “We’ve had several fires in that valley and fire has raced up the hillsides close to the ridge of homes.
“Firefighters can put out brush fires, a lithium fire you can’t put out and embers from all those palms can fly quite a long distance. If a fire broke out, it would endanger so many people, ” she added. “In Escondido, a container or two caught fire, and they evacuated 13 miles from that thing. This is not what we’re imagining, this is happening.”
But Engie officials say that every aspect of their project is designed to “ensure the safety of the neighborhoods and the environment.”
This includes using state-of-the-art lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, which have a higher operating temperature and are less likely to overheat, a comprehensive stormwater pollution prevention plan that improves current drainage patterns at the site, and real-time air quality monitors.
“As part of the permitting process, we are also producing a detailed hazard mitigation analysis and emergency response plan, which is being developed in close collaboration with the Orange County Fire Authority,” Robin said. “Ultimately, more than a dozen federal, state, and local agencies will review this project for compliance and safety, in addition to the production of a full EIR under CEQA.”
Representatives from Amtrak and the Los Angeles -San Diego – San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency have raised concerns to the state commission about large vehicles near the rail crossing, and a letter from the Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples opposes the location because it is close to the Putuidem, a sacred site for the Acjachemen people.
“This is a place of deep spiritual and cultural significance,” the letter says. “It is where our ancestors lived, prayed and thrived. It holds immeasurable value to our community.”
To show their support of the concerned residents, at least two council members from Laguna Niguel and San Juan Capistrano attended last week’s meeting.
Laguna Niguel Councilmember Stephanie Oddo encouraged residents to submit letters and attend the community meetings the CEC will hold. She said Laguna Niguel has sent a letter to the CEC opposing the project and will do so again once public comment is sought. San Juan Capistrano Councilmember John Taylor said his city has placed a moratorium on BESS sites and is “looking at every possible aspect of this location.”
“It’s a real uphill battle; the state has taken away local control,” Taylor said.
And that is why Pryor, president of B.L.E.S.S.I.N., told residents at the community meeting: “We need people to speak up and contact everyone in their sphere. The CEC can be persuaded to deny this permit and any additional applications for a BESS in this location.”
Jason Williams, executive pastor at Saddleback Church, said the California Energy Commission will ultimately make the appropriate decisions regarding the 41-acre site. He said the church is not involved with Engie’s efforts to get land-use approvals for the battery storage site.
He said selling the property was done with careful consideration, and church elders “prayed about and discussed” the proposal from Engie.
“Over the years, the church has conducted various real estate transactions, always with the intention to best steward what God has entrusted us with and to continue the church’s mission,” he said. “Saddleback Church is the closest neighbor to this proposed development, and it is very important to the church that all health, safety and environmental impacts are thoroughly reviewed by the CEC. No one is a closer neighbor to this proposed use than we are.”
Williams said the decision to sell the land was made because the parcel doesn’t contribute much to the overall mission of the San Juan Capistrano campus, partly because of its location and also because of the cost involved in making it suitable for other purposes.
“It just didn’t make sense for us to invest in it for the ministry purposes,” he said.
The property has been owned by the megachurch founded by Pastor Rick Warren and his wife, Kay, since 2011, when Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based crafts retailer, donated it to Saddleback. Hobby Lobby purchased the ranchland from the faltering Crystal Cathedral a year earlier.
The 41-acre property has been used as a retreat for church members, a place to train pastors, and a place to grow produce for the ministry’s food pantry at its PEACE farm.
“Our plans at the ranch haven’t shrunk; they’ve actually grown,” Williams said. “We’re talking about turning the ranch into a hub for families all over Orange County to have fun together and be enriched as families. So, we certainly have a vested interest in ensuring it is environmentally safe and healthy.”
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