Resident questions AES response to any potential damages from Crossvine Solar project

A Dubois County resident raised questions about liability and fire safety at Monday’s regular county commissioners meeting, pressing officials on what protections exist for non-participating landowners living near the Crossvine Solar battery energy storage system (BESS) project being developed by AES.

Rita Bartelt told the commissioners she contacted AES directly and spoke with an AES representative, Katie Haarsager, who is listed as a Stakeholder Engagement Manager on the AES website. Bartelt told commissioners she was unable to obtain documentation showing how AES has responded to past battery-fire incidents at other facilities.

“She (Haarsager) wouldn’t really give me a direct answer,” Bartelt said, adding that she was told AES does not provide claims information for privacy reasons and that questions about liability and compensation would depend on the specific circumstances of applicable laws, regulations and insurance requirements.

Bartelt referred to a battery fire at the Moss Landing battery facility in California, stating she found that state and local governments oversee all activities outside the property fence line during an incident, with properties unrelated to the battery being the responsibility of those governments.

“AES is stating that you’re responsible for my neighbors and my safety, not AES,” Bartelt told commissioners.

Commissioner Chad Blessinger pushed back on that, saying AES would be held to the same legal and regulatory standards as any other business operating in the county.

“Just like Kimball would be responsible if they have a fire or if they have a chemical that comes out or if a farmer has an anhydrous spill — each of these people are responsible for the actions and the damage that they caused,” Blessinger told Bartelt.

When Bartelt asked where she should turn if a fire damaged her property, County Attorney Greg Schnarr stated that, although they couldn’t provide her with legal advice on the proposed situation, she should consult her attorney to obtain the answers she is seeking regarding scenarios that adversely affect her property.

Bartelt says the community’s concerns go beyond her personal situation. “People are scared. We’re really scared,” she said. “The batteries are a scary thing.”

Blessinger also addressed several operational and safety details about the project that have been raised by the public.

The Crossvine facility’s battery enclosures use electrical and HVAC systems rather than water-based cooling, meaning the facility uses very little water during normal operations.

On the fire response, Blessinger says AES is installing a 25,000-gallon water tank on-site, which will also be available to emergency responders for any community emergency — even those unrelated to the Crossvine facility.

“The 25,000 tank is intended to give firefighters sufficient time to safely establish operations, deploy personnel and equipment and coordinate mutual aid tanker operations with neighboring jurisdictions,” Blessinger said.

He adds that firefighters would continuously shuttle water to the scene, as local water lines would not serve as the primary source in an emergency.

Later in the meeting, Holland Town Councilman John Kaltenbacher said that at the rate of water use required for these types of fires, a 25,000-gallon tank would only last a little over an hour.

Blessinger says the facility is monitored by on-site personnel during limited hours, with remote systems and automatic shutdowns that activate within seconds if an event occurs inside one of the battery units. Personnel can mobilize to the site within 45 minutes.

The Crossvine batteries are expected to be operational by March 2027 and will be monitored remotely from Utah or Colorado, with a local worker on-site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday and on call in the evenings and on Sundays.

Local fire departments in Holland and Huntingburg, along with Dubois County emergency response personnel, are being trained to respond to safety incidents at the facility. Blessinger added that meetings with the local emergency management agency and fire chiefs are ongoing.

“I do understand the concerns people have, and we’re working on it,” Blessinger said.