PSE on Battery Storage Opposition: "You're Just Increasing the Risk That the Power Will Go Out"
The Seattle Times’ Climate Lab took a look this week at why battery energy storage system (BESS) projects like Cascadia Ridge are needed in Western Washington. The article highlights why BESS is critical to maintaining reliability while meeting Washington’s clean energy goals and explores the challenges facing the development of this critically important infrastructure.
As the article explains, “Washington’s clean energy transition was always going to require major infrastructure, and the state’s geography is determining what gets put where.” Wind and solar work best east of the Cascade Range, but transmission constraints limit how much power can move west during peak demand. BESS facilities located west of the Cascades help bridge that gap.
Specifically, projects have to be sited near local utility substations, and while “avoiding proximity to neighborhoods or sensitive areas is nearly impossible on the west side of the state where batteries are most needed” these projects can be developed safely as technology improvements and intensive industry standards made failures “50 times less likely between 2018 and 2024” according to data from Electric Power Research Institute.
The article establishes the significance of the projected shortfall and need for BESS, noting that PSE is facing a 2-gigawatt power gap by 2030, nearly twice what Seattle uses on average. With more communities passing moratoriums against BESS projects across the region, PSE's Senior Vice President of External Affairs Matt Steuerwalt put it plainly: "It concerns me a lot. You're just increasing either the cost risk or the risk that the power will go out."
As projects like Casadia Ridge proceed, they will be subject to regulations which are “the most restrictive in the country” according to the King County Councilmember who spearheaded the adoption of a comprehensive BESS ordinance in 2024. It is time to trust the process to determine which projects are best suited to address the extreme power shortfall we are facing and the “energy crisis that’s coming.”