County unlikely to take action against battery energy storage system installation

At the first meeting of the year on Monday, Dubois County Commissioners acknowledged they were unable to take any action to stop the installation of a battery energy storage system at the AES Crossvine solar project.

They had previously passed a one-year moratorium on solar projects, which will affect any future requests before the county. However, given the county’s lack of zoning ordinances and the permitting approvals AES has already met, the county cannot retroactively stop the installation.

The discussion began with a request from Cass Township Trustee Jim Meyer for the commissioners to approve a moratorium to stop the installation of the battery energy storage system along Old Holland Road south of Huntingburg.

County Attorney Greg Schnarr explained that the commissioners’ authority remains limited regarding projects already approved by state agencies.

“The permit authority in my research in Indiana code is with the Department of Homeland Security,” Schnarr said. “By my interpretation, counties and units can regulate that through their planning, but things that are already taking place, I think we’re limited on being able to control those.”

Meyer said that as he began hearing from residents about the installation, he was surprised to learn that the CenterPoint Energy Substation was under construction along Holland Road Northeast.

“We don’t really know, the township, about what’s all going on,” Meyer said. “First, I thought the construction out there near the property was an oil well and then I drove by. It’s not an oil well.”

Meyer also said he was surprised to see construction underway on the Duff Solar Power project. He wondered when the public had been informed of these projects.

“I just wish we knew more about what’s going on, and hopefully we will in the future,” he told commissioners.

Regarding public disclosure, Blessinger stated that these installations have been discussed publicly for several years. Multiple stories have been published about solar installations since discussions began more than four years ago, although battery energy storage systems were not discussed in these meetings.

In addition to echoing residents’ and nearby schools’ safety concerns, Meyer also raised concerns about the financial impact of equipping volunteer fire departments that would respond to potential incidents at the BESS, since the townships financially support the county volunteer fire departments. Meyer told the council the cost of a new fire truck had increased significantly since the last one they had purchased. “We’re looking at a new fire truck sometime in the near future. $500,000 is what they are talking about,” Meyer said. “When I started 16 years ago, it was $160,000.”

Blessinger said AES has committed to assisting fire departments around other solar projects with equipment expenses and training. “One thing AES has mentioned multiple times is they bought a fire truck for Pike County,” he said, adding it may be something they can ask them to support for the Crossvine project.

During the discussion, Commissioner Chad Blessinger acknowledged that the county should be better prepared for future developments of a similar nature, rather than addressing them after the fact, “because I feel like that’s what we are doing with the battery system.”

Blessinger stated that AES is meeting all applicable county land-use regulations and, with approval from Homeland Security, is proceeding within the constraints of the county and state development ecosystem.

“Once a business invests millions of dollars, gotten permits from multiple places, it’s hard from a legal standpoint to put a stop to those things,” Blessinger said.

Commissioner Nick Hostetter agreed.

Blessinger said the county likely needs to examine whether to enact zoning. The last time it was seriously considered was about 25 years ago.

“Is zoning going to be the right thing for Dubois County?” he asked, saying it remains to be seen as though there is vocal opposition to the current projects, there are likely property owners that support them.

County resident Dave Duncan supported the township’s concerns and requested public representation on any future committee reviewing ordinances. He criticized the county for a lack of due diligence with the installation. He asked for them to include members of the public on any committees formed to consider future regulation on these types of projects.

Blessinger agreed with him.

Duncan also challenged the county’s position on regulatory authority, providing commissioners with Indiana codes he believes grant counties police powers to enforce regulations for safety concerns.

Blessinger said he didn’t fear using the authorities the county commissioners have for regulation, but was concerned about stepping over their own authority.

“I don’t ever want to take a step over that line of what authority we have or don’t have,” Blessinger said. “I’m risk adverse and if we do that, someone will sue us and…that’s just more money out of the taxpayers’ pockets.”

Commissioners indicated they will continue gathering information from state agencies and plan to include citizen input in any future ordinance review process, though no timeline was established for forming the proposed committee.