The Town of Normal is the first municipality in the region to approve regulations on industrial scale Battery Energy Storage Systems [BESS].
City Manager Pam Reece said in a Sound Ideas interview the town didn't try to be first, but the issue was brought to its attention and it wanted to be proactive before problems cropped up.
“We think it's a good time because of the interest in the growth in renewable energy,” said Reece, who also discussed the town helping the developer of a couple planned apartment buildings in the Infiniti Pointe subdivision, and the data center issue.
There has been one permit pulled for the installation of a BESS, at Rivian. It encompasses less than an acre, according to the town planning and zoning department, and would not be visible from a public street. A couple other inquiries have come in.
“We have been asked about one larger BESS within our extraterritorial jurisdiction, which would have served the grid [not a specific use], and we have been asked about a small BESS [0.25 acres] that would also support the grid. Neither are official,” said Mercy Davison, director of planning and zoning.
The new regulations outline that BESS must stick to certain areas, lighting and height requirements, noise levels, distance from yards and fire compliance standards.
Large-scale BESS in other communities can support data centers and/or large solar or wind installations. The town said it has not had that kind of inquiry.
Residential BESS also are becoming more popular, particularly for homeowners with solar arrays.
“This is more common because the power company no longer allows 'net metering,' which permitted people to sell extra power back at a good price. Now that it’s not an option, people hold on to the excess power in a BESS for use when the solar array isn’t generating power [nighttime, etc.],” said Davison.
Residential BESS are smaller, about the size of an air conditioning unit and can go outside of homes, in basements or in garages. So far in Normal, most are mounted on the exterior of the house.
Batteries for electric vehicles require special firefighting techniques. The town said it is aware of BESS installed through the permitting process. And there has been discussion of compiling a list of all structures with Photovoltaic [PV] [solar] panels that also can shape how firefighters attack a fire. Inspectors said it would be a simple matter to include BESS on that list.
When the batteries are not visible on the outside of the house, National Electric Code [NEC] requires an emergency shutdown initiation device be located on the exterior of the building.
“Extensive labeling standards for BESS and PV systems are described in the NEC, so it will be clear to first responders where and what all the components are,” said the inspections department.
Infiniti Pointe
The town council has approved changes to a couple of sites in the planned Infinity Pointe subdivision to allow two taller 30-unit apartment buildings across the street from a row of single-family, one-story residential homes.
That would be at the southeast corner of the 70-acre subdivision on Normal's west side. There were no town incentives in the original development agreement three years ago. With the community-wide emphasis on creating more residential housing, some assistance is now included.
“Offering some [development] fee waivers. In addition, we took on the future obligation of constructing a trail along Parkside Road,” said Reece. “That is not the first time that the town has offered that as a public-private partnership for a developer to get moving forward in construction of some residential units.”
Reece said the fee waiver comes to about $89,000.
Data center timeline
Like Bloomington, the town has imposed a six-month moratorium on large-scale data center development to allow time to thoughtfully consider requirements, advantages, and challenges of that kind of development.
Bloomington has laid out a tentative timeline for public consideration and testimony by experts. Reece said Normal has had a conversation with the city on the process
“I'm hoping that we can partner with Bloomington on that community discussion,” she said.
The town also plans site visits to existing, but recently built data centers, that are examples of current technology.
“We will be continuing to visit communities where these are in place, find out what has worked, what hasn't worked. Before we even come to council with a recommendation, we'll want to get some input from council and the community,” said Reece.
She said the Village of Aurora took about a year to go through its process before adopting comprehensive regulations and the town will review those.
