CEC Scoping Meeting for the Battery Project in San Juan Capistrano

June 1, 2025

At the CEC’s scoping meeting on May 29, 2025 I took the mike to make this statement 

Thank you for allowing me to speak. My name is Ed Maurer; I’m a 50-year resident of South Orange County and I’m the volunteer chair of Sierra Sage of South Orange County, the local entity of the Sierra Club, the country’s oldest and largest environmental grassroot organization. Two minutes are insufficient to make a cogent argument in support of the proposed Battery Electric Storage System in San Juan Capistrano. The Sierra Club has been warning about the effects of climate change and global warming for decades and has developed a national policy that supports technologies that reduce CO2 emissions. We support the application submitted by Compass Energy because it does just that and will provide continuous electric energy to the area during the critical hours of 5 -9:00 PM, but with this important caveat: We support the project provided the construction, maintenance and operation of this BESS does not harm the environment. By environment I mean the people and all living things as well as the air and flowing water in the area. 

Climate change is the existential threat of our time, and we need to do all that is necessary to stave its worst effects. I want to be on record to have done what I can to protect the future of my children and five grandchildren.

As I said, two minutes are not enough to make a cogent argument about this issue, so I would like to do so here.

The Big Picture

  • The Sierra Club considers the effects of anthropogenic climate change to be the existential problem of our time. It is our environmental main concern, and it needs to be our top priority when deciding on any action we take, particularly since the global temperature increase is accelerating.
  • In comparison with other coastal counties, Orange County has long been a laggard in prioritizing actions to combat climate change. E.g., few OC cities have meaningful Climate Action Plans, and only four OC cities offer their businesses and residents the choice of 100% clean electric energy.
  • The California legislature has seen the need to take corrective action in Orange County because of its reluctance to take steps to combat climate change.

Battery Electric Storage System in San Juan Capistrano

The objections voiced by the cities of Laguna Niguel, San Juan Capistrano and some of their residents revolve around these main concerns:

  • The risk of a runaway fire at the BESS. Frequent reference has been made to the fire at Moss Landing without recognizing that what has been proposed here has a different design and technology. The CEC staff outlined the myriad requirements that Compass Energy still has to meet in order to get a certificate to proceed toward construction. These requirements include many measures to deal with the threat of fire and the potential environmental consequences of such a fire.
  • The risk of increased costs for fire insurance. The main reason for the already occurring rise in homeowner’s insurance premiums is the effects of climate change! Financial and insurance experts warn of skyrocketing premiums if global warming continues unabated. What will drive up premiums is not a battery power plant, it is the lack of such facilities!
  • The risk of environmental damage to the air and water surrounding the plant. This is a concern the Sierra Club very much shares, and I made this clear in my statement by saying: “We support the project provided the construction, maintenance and operation of this BESS does not harm the environment. By environment I mean the people and all living things as well as the air and flowing water in the area.” 

Conclusion

Our Sierra Club group, Sierra Sage of South Orange County, of which I am the chair for 2025, is of the opinion that we ought to let the scoping process of the CEC play out, allow all stakeholders to voice their opinions, and then let the CEC decide based on facts. We stand with the late Senator Patrick Moynihan, who said “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.” 

As I wrote in my post that appeared in the January/February 2024 edition of the OC Sierran: “The Sierra Club will participate in public meetings about the Battery Electric Storage System proposed for San Juan Capistrano to provide non-partisan, fact-based information,” and that’s just what I did on May 29, 2025 at the first Informational and Environmental Scoping Meeting about the Compass Energy Project of the CEC.

Links and supporting materials

Related content:

Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)