Arevon on community engagement and combating BESS misinformation

During the Board of Directors meeting, the county’s planning director expressed concerns about fires, gas releases, chemicals, and metals, as well as potential pollution of air, water, and soil, loss of farmland, and a rising demand for emergency response.

While data collected by the US Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) showed that between 2018 and 2023, failure incidents at grid-scale BESS fell by 97% and there is approximately one fire for every 35GWh of battery storage (around three times the US’s total annual deployments), the perception of fire safety issues has not been helped by high profile incidents such as the January fire at Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility in California.

Developers can also find themselves in court if they are unaligned with communities. In March, residents in Georgia lost a legal challenge over a 1,000MWh BESS project in development by NextEra Energy Resources (NEER). Although the case, over the granting of a rezoning request for land to build the project, was dismissed by the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, it appears to have raised tensions between officials in the City of College Park and a group of residents.  

Smith explains, “You can expect some level of pushback in virtually every project. What matters is addressing concerns directly through open houses and formal presentations to county commissions or town councils.”

Arevon’s approach to community engagement

Arevon Energy, based in Arizona, US, owns and operates more than 4.7GW of solar PV and energy storage projects across 17 states. It also has a development pipeline totalling 6GW.

CEO Kevin Smith says the process of community engagement is fundamental to developing a successful project.

The company’s website lays out stages of engagement, beginning with researching the community and hosting dinners with landowners and continuing to host job fairs throughout construction.

Smith says: “To us, community engagement is a fundamental principle. We’re going into these communities as guests initially, and then our goal is to be long-term participants in the community.”

He continues, “Our philosophy is to go in, Day One, with our community relations team and look at how we can help the community. At some point, we’ll hit a bump along the road and will need some help from community leaders. If we haven’t been a participant, it’s too late.”

The company dedicates budgets to community engagement early in the development process and uses a percentage of the construction budget for community activities.

Smith explains that investments can take various forms, including solar installations for schools, computer labs, community funds or participation in other local projects.

“We have not only our community relations team but also our development people who are on the ground looking at land issues, permitting, and interfacing with town or county officials. We’ve gathered hands-on information through various Q&A sessions, with fire risk being one of the major topics. We provide answers verbally and through handouts that we distribute to city council members and other stakeholders.”

He continues, “Typically, we hold open houses in the community where our team is present to answer questions. We recently had one for the Daly City project, where I attended along with about 10 other team members. We displayed information boards with project details and provided handouts covering risks, safety measures, and fire mitigation strategies.”

Providing education and countering BESS misinformation

Another major aspect of community engagement is addressing public misconceptions around BESS safety, Kevin Smith says..

Large-scale fires, such as the 2024 fire at LS Power’s Gateway energy storage facility and the January fire at Vistra’s Moss Landing facility, have inspired criticism of BESS safety from community members and government officials.

In the months following the Moss Landing incident, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) established new standards for maintaining and operating BESS facilities within the state.

The incident was also referenced during a recent public information meeting for Engie’s Compass Energy storage project in California.

When the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) entered into a settlement agreement with LS Power to direct cleanup of the Gateway facility, the agency’s Pacific Southwest Region Administrator, Josh F.W. Cook, seemed to encourage fears around BESS, calling them “an issue of growing concern,” without acknowledging the decreasing failure incidents of BESS.

The Arevon CEO states. “One of our priorities is engaging with the local fire department to ensure they’re familiar with our technology and safety systems. We include them in the process because we need to work together on emergency response plans.”

“Our philosophy is to engage early and often with town officials, fire departments, and the local community. Some developers try to proceed quietly, hoping not to attract attention, but this approach can lead to misinformation spreading in the community. We prefer to be upfront.”

Smith addresses public misconceptions, saying, “There have been some higher-profile fires on battery storage projects; those are typically projects with older technologies. The other major point is that the technology has developed dramatically in terms of safety over just the last three to four years.”

“The newer technologies we’re utilising are state-of-the-art. These are open installations, not inside buildings, with properly spaced batteries. Even if you had a problem with one battery, it features 24-hour self-extinguishing safety systems. There’s really nothing the fire department needs to do other than monitor as it extinguishes itself.”

“We have comprehensive monitoring systems and internal safety mechanisms on each battery pack. Being outdoor installations, we avoid concerns related to enclosed spaces and buildings. We currently have six large-scale battery systems operating in California and Nevada, and we’ve had zero incidents with any of them.”

Additionally, Arevon works with local fire departments and hosts multiple open houses, where community members can speak with engineers and get answers to any questions they may have about a potential project.

Smith notes that the process of establishing trust is long and requires consistency from the company.

“It takes a good 12 months before you’ve established yourself in the community. You participate in community activities and groups, introduce yourselves to government officials, and show up at community events.”

Of course, there is a certain level of unpredictability to engaging with communities and there are still communities where Arevon finds it will not be a good fit for various reasons.

“If you’re not in the community from the beginning, a lot of misinformation starts circulating. People end up creating Facebook pages with all kinds of inaccurate information. That’s why it’s really important that we get in early and make sure residents have the right information.”

Smith continues, “Obviously, people are going to look online and find other perspectives, but we want to ensure they have accurate information from us so they can weigh that against whatever else they encounter.”

Arevon has been developing the Cormorant Energy Storage Project in Daly City, California. The project has a 250MW/1,000MWh capacity and is expected to be operational by the end of 2026.

Smith states that Arevon has applied these community engagement practices in Daly City for about 24 months. He emphasises the positive feedback from the community and credits the company’s community relations team and its focus on local communities for this success.